Heterogeneous Reconstruction

Heterogeneous reconstruction in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) aims to determine the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules exhibiting conformational variability from noisy two-dimensional images. Current research focuses on developing computationally efficient methods, often employing amortized inference with neural networks (like variational autoencoders) to jointly estimate poses and conformations, sometimes incorporating physics-based models (e.g., normal mode analysis) for improved accuracy and interpretability. These advancements enable faster and more accurate analysis of complex biomolecular dynamics, offering significant improvements in structural biology and furthering our understanding of biological processes at the atomic level.