The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced gifts totaling $7.5 million from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and an anonymous donor for the development of a state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) center and the purchase of a synergistic high-resolution cryo-EM instrument.

The gifts — $2.5 million from the Beckman Foundation and $5 million from the anonymous donor — will support the purchase of the Talos Arctica and Titan Krios cryo-EM instruments, enhancing several core facilities already present on the MIT campus, including traditional electron microscopy laboratories, the Department of Biology's X-ray crystallography facilities, and the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, which uses nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The instruments will be housed at the MIT.nano facility, which is under construction and expected to open in 2018.

According to MIT, cryo-EM is fast outpacing traditional X-ray crystallography techniques for understanding large biological structures. With cryo-EM, researchers can look at protein structures in many different conformations and gain better insight into the protein’s mechanisms — leading to biomedical applications such as more efficient drug development and increased understanding of chemotherapy efficacies.

"Coupled with other emerging imaging and characterization tools, the cryo-EM instruments will provide a synergy across many research areas within MIT.nano and beyond," said Vladimir Bulović, faculty head of the MIT.nano facility and the Fariborz Maseeh Chair in Emerging Technology. "The Beckman grant helps us clear that final hurdle in solidifying our nanoscale bio-imaging facilities and provide the research capabilities to turn scientific discoveries into breakthrough technologies."