F. Peter Ottensmeyer

Peter Ottensmeyer, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, has made significant contributions in biomolecular electron microscopy. His scientific achievements span many traditional disciplines and have had a decisive international impact. He pioneered dark field electron microscopy to image single atoms and probe the structures of small proteins. A powerful quaternion-based computational approach to determining the relative orientations of macromolecules in electron images was developed in his laboratory. He virtually singlehandedly developed in-column electron spectroscopic imaging, a microanalytical approach that enables mapping of small concentrations of elements in tissues and in biological macromolecular complexes. His studies have yielded novel insights into the structures of macromolecular complexes or proteins such as nucleosomes, prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes, the signal recognition particle, [lambda]-terminase, and myelin basic protein.