A journey from the polished quartz lenses in the eyes of an ancient Egyptian statue of a seated scribe, through the development of microscopes and towards modern electron microscopy. Recent advances in field emission scanning electron microscopy have made it possible to expose nuclei from human cells and to focus on individual nuclear pore complexes, comparing their architectural features.

A journey from the earliest known use of lenses and magnifying glasses in ancient times, through the development of microscopes and towards modern electron microscopy techniques. The evolving technology and improved microscopes enabled the discovery of intracellular organelles, the nucleus and nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Current advances have led to composite three-dimensional models showing NPC structure in unprecedented detail but relying on the averaging of many images. A complementary approach is field emission scanning electron microscopy providing topographic surface images that are easily and intuitively interpreted by our brain. Recent advances in this technique have made it possible to expose nuclei from human cells and to focus on individual NPCs and their architectural features.