Scanning Electron Microscopy : A New Staple for Cell Biology? 

Claire BOULOGNE

Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC) - Université Paris-Saclay


Since the early beginnings of the technique, electron microscopy has been a very important tool for cell biology, especially to explore inside the cells.

Due to the restriction of sample preparation and resolution, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was for a long time the only approach to analyse the interior of the cells at the nanometric scale. On the other side, scanning electron microscopy was restricted to surface analysis and was so only marginally used in cell biology.

With the latest development in SEM technology, this paradigm changed and SEM is more and more used to study cell compartmentation. Indeed, SEM offers many advantages for advanced techniques, like 3D analysis and correlative microscopy.

In this talk, examples of application with a FEG will be presented.