---
license: apache-2.0
tags:
- cryo-em
- flow-matching
- 3d-density-maps
- foundation-model
- conditional-sampling
---
# CryoFM2: A Generative Foundation Model for Cryo-EM Densities
[](https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.29.696802)
[](https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/cryofm)
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)
[](https://bytedance-seed.github.io/cryofm/docs/)
## Overview
**CryoFM2** is a flow-based generative foundation model for cryo-EM density maps.
It is pretrained on curated EMDB half maps to learn general priors of high-quality cryo-EM densities and can be fine-tuned for downstream tasks.
The model learns a continuous mapping from a simple Gaussian distribution to the complex distribution of cryo-EM densities, enabling stable generation and flexible adaptation. CryoFM2 can also act as a **Bayesian prior**, integrating naturally with task-specific likelihoods to support applications such as anisotropy-aware refinement, non-uniform reconstruction, and controlled density modification.
## Model Details
CryoFM2 is pretrained on curated EMDB half maps to learn general priors of high-quality cryo-EM densities. The model can be fine-tuned for various downstream tasks such as density map enhancement and post-processing.
**Pre-training Architecture:**
**Fine-tuning Architecture (for EMhancer/EMReady style post-processing):**
### Architecture
- **Architecture Type**: 3D UNet
- **Input Size**: 64×64×64 voxels
- **Input Channels**: 2 for pre-trained model, 3 for fine-tuned model
- **Output Channels**: 1
- **Down Blocks**: DownBlock3D, DownBlock3D, AttnDownBlock3D, AttnDownBlock3D
- **Up Blocks**: AttnUpBlock3D, AttnUpBlock3D, UpBlock3D, UpBlock3D
- **Block Output Channels**: (64, 128, 256, 512)
- **Layers per Block**: 2
- **Attention Head Dimension**: 8
- **Normalization**: GroupNorm (32 groups)
- **Activation**: SiLU
- **Time Embedding**: Positional encoding
### Model Variants
1. **cryofm2-pretrain**: Unconditional pretrained model for general density map generation
2. **cryofm2-emhancer**: Fine-tuned model for density map enhancement (EMhancer style)
3. **cryofm2-emready**: Fine-tuned model for density map enhancement (EMReady style)
## Play with CryoFM2
### Installation
Before using CryoFM2, you need to set up the environment and install the package. Follow these steps to get started:
```bash
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/cryofm.git
cd cryofm
# Create a new conda environment for CryoFM (recommended)
conda create -n cryofm python=3.10 -y
conda activate cryofm
# Install CryoFM
pip install .
```
### Unconditional Generation (Explore Training Data Distribution)
Generate samples from the pretrained model to explore the learned data distribution:
**Pretrained Model:**
```python
import torch
from mmengine import Config
from cryofm.core.utils.mrc_io import save_mrc
from cryofm.core.utils.sampling_fm import sample_from_fm
from cryofm.projects.cryofm2.lit_modules import CryoFM2Uncond
# Update the path to your model directory
model_dir = "path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-pretrain"
cfg = Config.fromfile(f"{model_dir}/config.yaml")
lit_model = CryoFM2Uncond.load_from_safetensors(f"{model_dir}/model.safetensors", cfg=cfg)
device = torch.device("cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu")
lit_model = lit_model.to(device)
lit_model.eval()
def v_xt_t(_xt, _t):
return lit_model(_xt, _t)
# Enable bfloat16 for faster inference if your GPU supports it
with torch.no_grad(), torch.autocast("cuda", dtype=torch.bfloat16):
out = sample_from_fm(
v_xt_t,
lit_model.noise_scheduler,
method="euler",
num_steps=200,
num_samples=3,
device=lit_model.device,
side_shape=64
)
# Apply normalization if configured
if hasattr(lit_model.cfg, "z_scale") and lit_model.cfg.z_scale.mean is not None:
out = out * lit_model.cfg.z_scale.std + lit_model.cfg.z_scale.mean
# Save generated samples
for i in range(3):
save_mrc(out[i].float().cpu().numpy(), f"sample-{i}.mrc", voxel_size=1.5)
```
**Fine-tuned Models (EMhancer/EMReady):**
```python
import torch
from mmengine import Config
from cryofm.core.utils.mrc_io import save_mrc
from cryofm.core.utils.sampling_fm import sample_from_fm
from cryofm.projects.cryofm2.lit_modules import CryoFM2Cond
# Choose style: "emhancer" or "emready"
style = "emhancer"
model_dir = f"path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-{style}"
cfg = Config.fromfile(f"{model_dir}/config.yaml")
lit_model = CryoFM2Cond.load_from_safetensors(f"{model_dir}/model.safetensors", cfg=cfg)
output_tag = 1 if style == "emhancer" else 0
device = torch.device("cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu")
lit_model = lit_model.to(device)
lit_model.eval()
def v_xt_t(_xt, _t):
bs = _xt.shape[0]
unconditional_generation_conds = {
"input_cond": None,
"output_cond": torch.tensor([output_tag] * bs).to(device),
"vol_cond": None, # dimension should be [bs, d, h, w]
}
return lit_model(_xt, _t, generation_conds=unconditional_generation_conds)
# Enable bfloat16 for faster inference if your GPU supports it
with torch.no_grad(), torch.autocast("cuda", dtype=torch.bfloat16):
out = sample_from_fm(
v_xt_t,
lit_model.noise_scheduler,
method="euler",
num_steps=200,
num_samples=3,
device=lit_model.device,
side_shape=64
)
# Apply normalization if configured
if hasattr(lit_model.cfg, "z_scale") and lit_model.cfg.z_scale.mean is not None:
out = out * lit_model.cfg.z_scale.std + lit_model.cfg.z_scale.mean
# Save generated samples
for i in range(3):
save_mrc(out[i].float().cpu().numpy(), f"{style}-sample-{i}.mrc", voxel_size=1.5)
```
### Density Map Modification
CryoFM2 supports various density map modification operations using the pretrained model as a Bayesian prior. Supported operators include:
- **denoise**: Remove noise from density maps
- **inpaint**: Fill missing regions (e.g., missing wedge)
- **denoise inpaint**: Combined denoising and inpainting
- **non-uniform weight**: Apply non-uniform weighting during reconstruction
**Basic Usage:**
```bash
python -m cryofm.projects.cryofm2.uncond_sampling \
-i1 half_map_1.mrc \
-i2 half_map_2.mrc \
-o ./output \
--model-dir path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-pretrain \
--op denoise \
--norm-grad \
--use-lamb-w
```
**For inpainting tasks**, you need to provide a RELION starfile path:
```bash
python -m cryofm.projects.cryofm2.uncond_sampling \
-i1 half_map_1.mrc \
-i2 half_map_2.mrc \
-o ./output \
--model-dir path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-pretrain \
--op inpaint \
--data-starfile-path path/to/relion_data.star \
--norm-grad \
--use-lamb-w
```
### Density Map Post-Processing
CryoFM2 provides fine-tuned models for density map enhancement in different styles, similar to EMhancer and EMReady.
#### EMhancer Style Enhancement
```bash
python -m cryofm.projects.cryofm2.cond_sampling \
-i input_map.mrc \
-o ./output_emhancer \
--model-dir path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-emhancer \
--output-tag 1
```
#### EMReady Style Enhancement
```bash
python -m cryofm.projects.cryofm2.cond_sampling \
-i input_map.mrc \
-o ./output_emready \
--model-dir path/to/cryofm-v2/cryofm2-emready \
--output-tag 0 \
--cfg-weight 0.5
```
**Parameters:**
- `-i`: Input density map file (MRC format)
- `-o`: Output directory
- `--model-dir`: Path to the model directory containing `config.yaml` and `model.safetensors`
- `--output-tag`: Style tag (1 for EMhancer, 0 for EMReady)
- `--cfg-weight`: Classifier-free guidance weight (optional, default varies by model)
## Performance Tips
- **Multi-GPU Inference**: Use `accelerate launch` for faster inference on multiple GPUs:
```bash
NCCL_DEBUG=ERROR accelerate launch --num_processes=${NUM_GPUS} --main_process_port=8881 \
python -m cryofm.projects.cryofm2.cond_sampling ...
```
- **Mixed Precision**: Use `--bf16` flag when available to reduce memory usage and speed up inference.
- **Batch Processing**: Adjust batch size based on your GPU memory capacity.
## Limitations
- Input size is fixed at 64×64×64 voxels
- Model performance may vary depending on the input density map quality
- Fine-tuned models are optimized for specific enhancement styles
## Ethical Considerations
This model is intended for scientific research and structural biology applications. Users should:
- Ensure proper attribution when using generated structures
- Validate generated structures through experimental verification
- Be aware of potential biases in the training data
- Use the model responsibly and in accordance with scientific best practices
## Citation
If you find CryoFM2 useful, please cite:
```bibtex
@article{
Li2025.12.29.696802,
author={Li, Yilai and Yuan, Jing and Zhou, Yi and Wang, Zhenghua and Chen, Suyi and Yang, Fengyu and Ling, Haibin and Kovalsky, Shahar Z and Zheng, Xiaoqing and Gu, Quanquan},
title={A Generative Foundation Model for Cryo-EM Densities},
elocation-id={2025.12.29.696802},
year={2025},
doi={10.64898/2025.12.29.696802},
publisher={Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory},
URL={https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2025/12/29/2025.12.29.696802},
eprint={https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2025/12/29/2025.12.29.696802.full.pdf},
journal={bioRxiv}
}
```
## License
This model is released under the Apache 2.0 License. See the [LICENSE](https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/cryofm/blob/main/LICENSE) file for details.
## Acknowledgments
This work is developed by the ByteDance Seed Team. For more information, visit:
- [Project Repository](https://github.com/ByteDance-Seed/cryofm)
- [ByteDance Seed Team](https://seed.bytedance.com/)