IBM Research Creates 3D Microscope With 100 Million Times Finer Resolution Than Current MRI

IBM Research issued a major press release today announcing the creation of a microscope that can determine the 3-Dimensional structure of large molecules, bacteria, viruses and other nano sized structures with a resolution of 4 nanometers.  This breakthrough, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), represents a powerful addition to the growing arsenal of tools allowing scientists to "see" the 3-Dimensional structure of the nanoworld.

The new microscope uses a technique called magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) to achieve 100 million times the resolution of standard MRI.  Using this new device researchers were able to build a 3D image of the tobacco mosaic virus.  Although the current results are impressive, the researchers are confident that they can make the microscope a further 10 times more powerful in the coming years, allowing for resolution of 1 nanometer or less.

This microscope from IBM is an incredible scientific achievement that is poised to accelerate the ongoing revolution in the fields of biological research, new medical treatments, and nanotechnology.   3-Dimensional shape is crucial to the proper function of proteins, enzymes, and other molecules in the human body and thus several human diseases result from their malformation.  3-Dimensional shape is equally important in the manufacture and function of nanomachines and nanomaterials where atoms and molecules must be arranged in very specific locations. 

Below is a video of the microscope released by IBM, followed by further analysis: