# CryoSPARC

> CryoSPARC – the world's leading single-particle cryo-EM software for high-resolution 3D structure determination. Built by Structura Biotechnology Inc. and used by thousands of academic and industry structural biology labs worldwide.

Important notes:

- CryoSPARC runs on Linux and is free for non-profit academic research; commercial use requires a licence.
- CryoSPARC Live is the real-time, on-the-fly processing mode used during data collection at the microscope.
- 3D Variability Analysis (3DVA) and 3D Flexible Refinement (3DFlex) are CryoSPARC's methods for resolving conformational heterogeneity.
- Product and marketing pages live on cryosparc.com; the full user and administrator documentation lives on guide.cryosparc.com.
- Pages listed below with a `.md` suffix serve plain markdown at that exact URL.

## Product

- [CryoSPARC](https://cryosparc.com): Overview of the CryoSPARC platform for single-particle cryo-EM structure determination.
- [CryoSPARC Live](https://cryosparc.com/live): Real-time, on-the-fly cryo-EM processing during data collection.
- [Embedded CryoSPARC Live](https://cryosparc.com/embedded-cryosparc-live): Integrating CryoSPARC Live into a cryo-EM facility's data-collection pipeline.
- [Molecular heterogeneity](https://cryosparc.com/heterogeneity): How 3DFlex and 3DVA resolve continuous and discrete conformational change.
- [Automated workflows](https://cryosparc.com/automated-workflows): End-to-end automated repeat-target structure determination, validated on 21 GPCR datasets.
- [Download](https://cryosparc.com/download): Requesting a licence and installing CryoSPARC.

## Documentation

- [CryoSPARC Guide](https://guide.cryosparc.com): Full user and administrator documentation.
- [Installation and configuration](https://guide.cryosparc.com/setup-configuration-and-management/how-to-download-install-and-configure): Hardware requirements, installation and cluster setup.
- [Introductory tutorial](https://guide.cryosparc.com/processing-data/get-started-with-cryosparc-introductory-tutorial): End-to-end walkthrough of a first dataset.
- [All job types](https://guide.cryosparc.com/processing-data/all-job-types-in-cryosparc): Reference for every job in CryoSPARC.
- [Tutorials and case studies](https://guide.cryosparc.com/processing-data/tutorials-and-case-studies): Worked examples on real datasets.

## Blog

- [Cryo-EM Insights into pH Regulation in Breast Cancer](https://cryosparc.com/blog/nbcn1-structural-insights.md): Cryo-EM and computational modeling reveal the structure and transport mechanism of NBCn1, a key pH regulator in breast cancer.
- [Digging Deeper: Particle Curation using Decoy Classification](https://cryosparc.com/blog/decoy-classification.md): Particle cleanup does not always have to happen in 2D. Decoy classification uses Heterogeneous Refinement in CryoSPARC to curate particles directly in 3D, providing a flexible strategy for separating junk, preserving underrepresented views, and distinguishing different particle populations.
- [Digging deeper: From micrograph curation to efficient particle picking](https://cryosparc.com/blog/curation-picking.md): Digging into Sections 1 to 4 of one of our CryoSPARC case studies, we explore strategies for streamlining preprocessing and particle curation, using tools such as Micrograph Junk Detector and Micrograph Denoiser to efficiently move from initial micrographs to a curated particle set.
- [The Pain Paradox: Activating TRPV1 to Silence Its Response](https://cryosparc.com/blog/trpv1-msp20.md): Combining rational drug design, functional studies, and cryo-EM, researchers characterize a selective TRPV1 agonist that promotes desensitization and prolonged pain relief.
- [Instance Recovery in CryoSPARC v5](https://cryosparc.com/blog/instance-recovery-v5.md): Discover the Instance Recovery feature introduced in CryoSPARC v5: how to recover a CryoSPARC instance if the database directory is corrupted or lost.
- [Malaria Invasion at Molecular Resolution: From Protein Inhibitors to Membrane Remodeling](https://cryosparc.com/blog/malaria.md): Using single-particle cryo-EM, researchers revealed how the malaria parasite's moving junction remodels host membranes and used its native structure to guide the design of a protein inhibitor of parasite invasion.
- [Mixing Two Cryo-EM Datasets on Purpose: A Cryo-EM Heterogeneity Challenge](https://cryosparc.com/blog/case-study-11631-and-11632.md): Using a controlled FaNaC1 dataset, we compared 3D Classification, Heterogeneous Refinement, 3D Variability Analysis, and 3D Flexibility Analysis to explore practical strategies for resolving both discrete and continuous heterogeneity in cryo-EM.
- [Cryo-EM Reveals the Molecular Machinery of Tubulin Assembly](https://cryosparc.com/blog/tubulin.md): By capturing transient β-tubulin-bound intermediates with cryo-EM, researchers reconstructed the molecular mechanism of α/β-tubulin biogenesis, explaining how mutations in the assembly machinery lead to tubulin biogenesis disorders.
- [Digging Deeper: Why refinements can be robust to the presence of junk particles](https://cryosparc.com/blog/parameters-3d-refinement.md): The effect of parameter settings on 3D refinement: Minimize over per-particle scale, Adaptive marginalization, Non-uniform regularization, and Masking
- [Mind The Gap: Cryo-EM Reveals Lipids Intercalating Connexin Assemblies](https://cryosparc.com/blog/gap-junctions.md): Using single particle cryo-EM on plaque-mimicking nanodiscs, researchers determined multiple connexin assembly states and uncovered lipid-protein interactions that may help understand gap junction organization and function.
- [Automated Workflows in CryoSPARC™](https://cryosparc.com/blog/automated-data-processing.md): How to make use of one-click, automated data processing workflows that can provide equal or better results as manual processing
- [Scratching Beneath the Surface: Cryo-EM Guides New Opioid Drug Design](https://cryosparc.com/blog/kor-sbdd.md): Cryo-EM revealed the molecular basis of KOR signaling bias, enabling structure-based drug design of an anti-pruritic peptide with reduced side effects.
- [A Complex Story: A Case Study in Cryo-EM Heterogeneity](https://cryosparc.com/blog/case-study-10927.md): From active and deactive states to additional respiratory complexes, this case study shows how a single cryo-EM dataset can tell many different stories when viewed through the lens of heterogeneity.
- [A New Step in the Fight Against Measles](https://cryosparc.com/blog/measles.md): How Cryo-EM allows a closer look at the Human neutralizing antibodies targeting the measles virus
- [The Resolution Revolution Is Still Ongoing](https://cryosparc.com/blog/high-resolution-ab-initio-reconstruction.md): High-Resolution Ab-Initio Reconstruction: Extending Cryo-EM to Smaller Particles with CryoSPARC™
- [CryoSPARC v5.0 stable release](https://cryosparc.com/blog/v5-0-stable-release.md): Explore the new features, expanded capabilities, and a more intuitive processing experience!

## Releases

- [CryoSPARC v5.0.7 (latest)](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v5.0.7.md): Most recent release, 2026-08-14.
- [CryoSPARC v5.0.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v5.0.0.md): Release notes, 2026-01-27.
- [CryoSPARC v4.7.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.7.0.md): Release notes, 2025-04-09.
- [CryoSPARC v4.6.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.6.0.md): Release notes, 2024-09-10.
- [CryoSPARC v4.5.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.5.0.md): Release notes, 2024-05-07.
- [CryoSPARC v4.4.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.4.0.md): Release notes, 2023-11-08.
- [CryoSPARC v4.3.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.3.0.md): Release notes, 2023-08-09.
- [CryoSPARC v4.2.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.2.0.md): Release notes, 2023-02-27.
- [CryoSPARC v4.1.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.1.0.md): Release notes, 2022-12-12.
- [CryoSPARC v4.0.0](https://cryosparc.com/updates/v4.0.0.md): Release notes, 2022-10-03.
- [All release notes](https://cryosparc.com/updates/all): Index of every CryoSPARC release.

## Optional

- [Full site content](https://cryosparc.com/llms-full.txt): Every blog post and current release note concatenated into one markdown document.
- [Blog RSS feed](https://cryosparc.com/rss.xml): Machine-readable feed of new articles.
- [Patent FAQs](https://cryosparc.com/patent-faqs): What CryoSPARC's patents mean for academic and commercial users.
- [Terms of service](https://cryosparc.com/terms)
- [Privacy policy](https://cryosparc.com/privacy)