Focusing in on our research at SickKids
In February 1963, an electron microscope was installed in the new electron microscopy suite at SickKids Research Institute. According to the SickKids internal newsletter, Pediatric Patter, “this amazing new piece of equipment, which was imported from Holland at a cost of nearly $40,000.00, has the power to magnify up to 200,000 times…Already the giant microscope has a full schedule. It is being used chiefly for research into kidney, liver and muscle diseases…No wonder the research staff members are excited!”
The 21st century represents a new era in microscope technology. In November 2007, Dr. John Rubinstein, a scientist in the Molecular Structure & Function Program at SickKids received $659,322 from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to help establish a state-of-the-art cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) facility at SickKids. Cryo-EM is an important technique in structural biology that bridges the resolution gap between images of cells from light microscopy and conventional electron microscopy and high-resolution information available from X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. This new facility will impact exploration of the molecular determinants of cancer, and of infectious and acquired diseases such as SARS and influenza and will contribute to finding new targets for therapeutic interventions and for enhancing the activity and specificity of existing and new drugs.