Cellular dimensions and cell dynamics, or the difficulty over capturing time and space in the era of electron microscopy

The introduction of electron microscopy profoundly altered biomedical research, providing a tool for a more detailed but at the same time a spatially and temporally more restricted visual analysis. Examining the case study of Golgi apparatus research in the 1950s and 1960s, it will be shown how microscopists handled these challenges, and how these confrontations modified the general concept of cellular organization. This will also shed light on the artifact debate and on the question of scientific realism in the field of microscopy.

► Electron microscopy further deepened but also restricted cytologist’s view. ► It settled the Golgi artifact debate providing the organelle with a proper shape. ► Golgi apparatus research soon required a broader and more dynamic cell concept. ► In 1963 quantitative audioradiography evidenced a continuous membrane traffic. ► The Golgi apparatus became part of a 4D cellular system.