In collaboration with the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University, today IBM announced a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner with 100 million times better resolution than convention MRIs - down to nanometer scales. The new device operates on samples, not large scale bodies. However, with such high resolution it has basically become a 3D replacement for the scanning tunneling electron microscope able to see proteins and viruses at scales down to 4nm.

According to the press release, the IBM-led team was able to visualize biological objects for the first time on MRI - including viruses. They were able to see a tobacco mosaic virus, for example, which is only 18 nanometers across, with resolutions produced by the MRI down to 4 nanometers.

Dan Rugar, manager of nanoscale studies at IBM Research, said, "Our hope is that nano MRI will eventually allow us to directly image the internal structure of individual protein molecules and molecular complexes, which is key to understanding biological function."



More . . .

Well, this could mean that Rosetta, POEM, Predictor and any other prediction projects out there will not be needed to predict the structure of the proteins. But there would still be a need for simulations in the protein docking part, for the design of new drugs.

Not sure if i got this right, i don't have anything in common with molecular biology.

By my understanding, no, the other projects would still be needed.

Protein folding is a mystery. It happens in nannoseconds. Also, in the body, it happens correctly, nearly every time. In the lab the error rate is orders of magnitude higher. The process could not be viewed, and that is very important.

Also, 4nm is a very fine scale, but atoms are much smaller. This MRI would show "large" structures, but not fine detail. Further, charge density would not be visible, and that is very important for predicting chemical reactivity (such as docking).

While seeing the end result is very important (an din this case a major step forward in science), scientists also want to know what happened, how it happened, and if possible why.

Oh well, that was wishfull thinking. Back to crunching then...