An interdisciplinary research consortium from the Nanoscience Center at University of Jyvaskyla in Finland (group leaders Dr. Lotta-Riina Sundberg and Prof. Ilari Maasilta) has found that bacteria and viruses can be imaged with helium ions in contrast to electrons, which are the standard workhorse in nanoscale microscopy. Helium ions, being more massive than electrons, can be focused to a much tighter spot down to the atomic length scales. By measuring the electrons generated by the ion bombardment, an image can be formed from the sample with biological features visible below the nanometer (one billionth of a meter) length.