Bio Vision: microscopy in three dimensions.

Conventional electron microscopy is inadequate for visualizing the three-dimensional networks supporting cell architecture: the cytoskeleton and nuclear matrix. Consequently, we have not appreciated the extent to which the cell, its biochemistry, and its molecular biology are structured. A new technology combining in situ cell fractionation and resinless section electron microscopy allows the visualization of cell structure in three dimensions and permits the localization of individual components. These techniques reveal a far richer cell architecture than had been assumed and will allow important problems of biology, which have not surrendered their secrets to a purely biochemical approach, to be addressed.