Science Lab

Learn. Share. Contribute. The knowledge portal of Leica Microsystems. Find scientific research and teaching material on the subject of microscopy. The portal supports beginners, experienced practitioners and scientists alike in their everyday work and experiments. Explore interactive tutorials and application notes, discover the basics of microscopy as well as high-end technologies. Become part of the Science Lab community and share your expertise.

Trichomonas parasite in mouse gut, rOTO Embedding and serial sections for array tomography imaging. Sample courtesy Isabelle Guerin-Bonne, Low Kay En, Electron Microscopy Unit, Yong loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Integrated Serial Sectioning and Cryo-EM Workflows for 3D Biological Imaging

This on-demand webinar explores how integrated tools can support electron microscopy workflows from sample preparation to image analysis. Experts Andreia Pinto, Adrian Boey, and Hoyin Lai present the…

Mouse hippocampus brain slice on a grid after HPF using the “Waffle Method”.

The “Waffle Method”: High-Pressure Freeze Complex Samples

This article describes the advantages of a special high pressure freezing method, the so-called “Waffle Method”. Learn how the “Waffle Method” uses EM grids as spacers for high-pressure freezing,…

Mastering Polymer Sectioning with Helmut Gnaegi

When it comes to ultramicrotomy, few names carry the weight of Helmut Gnaegi. As co-founder of Diatome, a global leader in diamond knife technology, Helmut has spent decades refining the art and…

C. elegans embedded in Lowicryl® HM20; pharynx showing red fluorescence (mCherry). The overview shows a front view onto the resin capsule formed by the bottom of a flow-through chamber of the EM AFS2. The capsule was pretrimmed manually. The blockface was trimmed automatically using the AutoTrim function of UC Enuity guided by fluorescence of the worm. Edge length of both squares in relation to the images is 250 µm.

How Fluorescence Guides Sectioning of Resin-embedded EM Samples

Electron microscopes, including transmission electron microscopes (TEM) and scanning electron microscopes (SEM), are widely utilized to gain detailed structural information about biological samples or…

C. elegans nematode embedded in Epon epoxy resin, contrasted with osmium tetroxide. The resin block was pretrimmed by hand. Scale bar: 500 µm.

How to Save Time and Samples by Automated Ultramicrotomy

This article describes how 3D micro-CT data of a resin-embedded electron microscopy sample can be used to trim the specimen down to a defined target plane prior to sectioning. The interactive and…

Micrograph of dinoflagellate cells. Scale bar = 1 µm.

How Marine Microorganism Analysis can be Improved with High-pressure Freezing

In this application example we showcase the use of EM-Sample preparation with high pressure freezing, freeze substiturion and ultramicrotomy for marine biology focusing on ultrastructural analysis of…

Advancing Cellular Ultrastructure Research

Freeze-fracture and freeze-etching are useful tools for studying flexible membrane-associated structures such as tight junctions or the enteric glycocalyx. Freeze-fracture and etching are two…

Cryo FIB lamella - Overlay of SEM and confocal fluorescence image. Target structure in yeast cells (nuclear pore proteine Nup159-Atg8-split Venus, red) marked by an arrow. Scale bar: 5 µm. Alegretti et al., Nature 586, 796-800 (2020).

Targeting Active Recycling Nuclear Pore Complexes using Cryo Confocal Microscopy

In this article, how cryo light microscopy and, in particular cryo confocal microscopy, is used to improve the reliability of cryo EM workflows is described. The quality of the EM grids and samples is…

Essential Guide to Ultramicrotomy

When studying samples, to visualize their fine structure with nanometer scale resolution, most often electron microscopy is used. There are 2 types: scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which images the…