Chameleon

Chameleon is an automatic sample preparation system being developed by SPT Labtech and The Rosalind Franklin Institute (The Franklin). eBIC are project partners working closely in collaboration with The Franklin project team members Jim Naismith and Miriam Weckener.

Chameleon will automate cryo-EM sample preparation giving better, more reliable results than is currently possible. Recent advancements mean that increasingly challenging samples are able to be imaged using cryo-EM, making it possible to determine their structure with atomic resolution.

However, sample preparation remains low throughput due to it still being a largely manual process, and gives inconsistent, non-repeatable results. Chameleon will offer users real-time feedback, which will guide sample preparation and quality control. This will lead to reduced variability, improved sample yields and reduced sample consumption. It will also make workflows simpler.