Abstract
Scanning EM was a relatively late entrant to cell biology, because resolution was low in comparison to transmission EM, but this was changed by the introduction of field emission instruments (FEGSEMs) in the mid-1980s. Since then SEM has produced a new appreciation of both the cell surface and its interior organization previously unrealized in TEM due to the depth of field and three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging characteristics of scanning EM. This article summarizes the instrumentation, specimen preparation and handling, together with examples of some of the novel results produced by this technology.