New laser shows unique images of viruses

A laser that delivers intense ultra-short X-ray pulses can create images of intact viruses, single-cell organisms and bacteria, providing researchers with a revolutionary tool, Nature reported on February 3. The technique, using a so-called free-electron laser at Stanford University in California, was tested on the mimivirus, the world's largest known virus, which infects amoebas.
The snapshot is the first step towards studying molecules, viruses and live microbes at the nanoscale and in real time, the paper said. Existing electron microscopy methods require biologists to slice or freeze a sample before imaging it.