The Croonian lecture 2006. Structure of the living cell.

The smallest viable unit of life is a single cell. To understand life, we need to visualize the structure of the cell as well as all cellular components and their complexes. This is a formidable task that requires sophisticated tools. These have developed from the rudimentary early microscopes of 350 years ago to a toolbox that includes electron microscopes, synchrotrons, high magnetic fields and vast computing power. This lecture briefly reviews the development of biophysical tools and illustrates how they begin to unravel the 'molecular logic of the living state'.