Diamond Annual Review 2025-26

The location of eBIC enables scientists to combine their techniques with many of the other cutting-edge approaches that Diamond offers. Currently eBIC houses five Titan Krios microscopes, a Talos Arctica, two Glacios microscopes, Scios and Aquilos cryo-FIB/SEMs, and a Leica CryoCLEM. Beamline B24 hosts a full field cryo-transmission X-ray microscope dedicated to biological X-ray imaging and has also established a cryo super resolution fluorescence microscopy facility, which was a joint venture between Diamond and the University of Oxford. Breakthrough in next-generation polio vaccines Researchers have taken an important step towards developing a safer and more affordable next-generation polio vaccine using virus-like particles (VLPs). Unlike traditional vaccines, these particles mimic the outer shell of the poliovirus but contain no genetic material, removing the risk of infection while still triggering an immune response. The electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) is a CryoEM centre providing scientists with state-of-the-art experimental equipment and expertise in the field of cryo-electron microscopy, for single particle analysis, electron tomography and electron diffraction. Biological Cryo-Imaging Group The research team studied how different biological systems, including yeast, insect, mammalian and plant cells, could be used to produce VLPs. Their findings showed that VLPs made in yeast and insect cells performed as well as, or better than, current inactivated polio vaccines in laboratory testing. Researchers used cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) at eBIC to visualise the vaccine particles at near-atomic resolution. This helped scientists understand how the particles mimic the real virus and how they can be stabilised for vaccine development. The work could help make polio vaccines cheaper and easier to manufacture globally, supporting ongoing efforts to eradicate the disease worldwide. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56118-z Visualising how HIV highjacks human cells Scientists captured new images showing how HIV-1 enters the nucleus of human cells, a key step in how the virus infects the body. Researchers used a technique called cell permeabilisation, which makes cell membranes porous without destroying the cells, allowing them to mimic HIV infection and capture nearly 1,500 viral cores entering the nucleus. The research shows that HIV-1’s ability to pass through the nuclear pore complex depends on the viral core’s shape and flexibility, the adaptability of the nuclear pore, and a host protein called CPSF6. Previously, nuclear pores were thought to be relatively rigid gateways, but the study found they can expand and change shape to allow viral cores through. Some viral cores do not enter the nucleus: fragile cores or those unable to interact with CPSF6 can become stuck or excluded. This suggests the nuclear pore actively influences infection, rather than simply acting as a doorway. The findings improve our understanding of HIV infection and may support future antiviral strategies. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-02054-z Biological Cryo-Imaging Group 9 10 Annual review 2025/26