Facilities

The electron microscopy facility at PSI is presently sustained by three centers, CLS(chair), NES and CEE. With its three transmission electron microscopes, a focused ion beam instrument and plenty of preparation tools it offers a direct access to electron microscopic techniques highly required in their fields of research (biological as well as materials science samples). The facility is unique within Switzerland as it also allows the investigation of radioactive materials.

Our state-of-art cryo-EM allows for structural analysis of biological macromolecules and organelles. Cryo-EM provides images of biological macromolecules and organelles in intact hydrated states. Computational image analysis enables three-dimensional reconstruction.

We support serial crystallography experiments at SLS and SwissFEL with sample and injector expertise. Our aim is to help users to make the best out of the available beamtime as we believe a careful preparation is key for a successful experiment.

A distinctive advantage of LBR as a research environment is the presence, on campus, of the Swiss Light Source (SLS). The macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamlines perfectly complement the excellent infrastructure of LBR for protein preparation, crystallization, crystallographic computing and structure analysis. We work in close collaboration with the MX group at the SLS in several areas, especially crystallization, in situ diffraction screening and data acquisition.

Translocation of ions and charged molecules across biological membranes are sensitively measured using electrophysiological instruments.

The Lab of Multiscale Bioimaging (LMB) is running the optical microscopy facility of the PSI Center for Life Sciences.

In the CRS there is a state-of-art GMP facility for the production of radiopharmaceuticals under good manufacturing practice (GMP) for clinical applications.