Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42309992›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Pulsed-electron illumination does not reduce beam damage for imaging biological macromolecules.

Vishal Kumar, Julika Radecke, Chinmaya K V, Inayathulla Mohammed, Ricardo C Guerrero-Ferreira, Daniel Harder, Dimitrios Fotiadis, Henning Stahlberg

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Vishal KumarLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Julika RadeckeLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-5815-5537
Chinmaya K VLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Inayathulla MohammedLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ricardo C Guerrero-FerreiraLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-3664-8277
Daniel HarderInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Dimitrios FotiadisInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-9682-7931
Henning StahlbergLaboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Institute of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. henning.stahlberg@epfl.ch.ORCID 0000-0002-1185-4592

Funding

EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 101118656Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Swiss National Science Foundation) 200021_200628
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Radiation damage remains a fundamental limitation in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), constraining the total electron dose that can be used and thus limiting high-resolution imaging of biological specimens. Recent studies have proposed that temporally structured or pulsed electron beams could reduce radiation damage by allowing time for energy dissipation between individual electron interactions. To evaluate this hypothesis, we present a systematic investigation using a radiofrequency (RF) driven 300 kV Titan Krios microscope equipped with a cold field emission gun (c-FEG) to generate pulsed electron beams for specimens under cryogenic conditions. We compare radiation damage in three representative samples: paraffin 2D crystals, bacteriorhodopsin (purple membrane) 2D crystals, and plunge-frozen tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in vitreous ice, under both pulsed and conventional ( = random) illumination, while keeping all other imaging conditions constant. Radiation damage is quantified by tracking the decay of computed diffraction intensities to determine the critical dose (N

Indexed as

Cryoelectron MicroscopyElectronsMacromolecular SubstancesBacteriorhodopsinsTobacco Mosaic VirusBacteriorhodopsinsMacromolecular Substances

Identifiers

PMID42309992
PMCPMC13433904

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.