Latest X-ray crystallography Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA announced on Tuesday the first analysis of Martian soil by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiment on NASA's Curiosity rover. The soil sample taken during Curiosity's third scoop on October 15 revealed the presence of crystalline feldspar, pyroxenes and olivine mixed with some amorphous (non-crystalline) material. NASA said that the soil sample taken within Gale Crater resembles what could be found in volcanic soils...
Precisely tailored pharmaceuticals could reduce medical side effects LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have used neutron crystallography for the first time to determine the structure of a clinical drug in complex with its human target enzyme. Seeing the detailed structure of the bonded components provides insights into developing more effective drugs with fewer side effects for patients. (Photo:...
A new advance in X-ray imaging has revealed the dramatic three-dimensional shape of gold nanocrystals, and is likely to shine a light on the structure of other nano-scale materials. Described today in Nature Communications, the new technique improves the quality of nanomaterial images, made using X-ray diffraction, by accurately correcting distortions in the X-ray light. Dr Jesse Clark, lead author of the study from the London Centre for Nanotechnology said: "With nanomaterials playing...
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The structure of biomolecules is of great interest for medicine and biology because their shape often determines their function. The use of new tools called free-electron lasers (FELs) allows scientists to obtain high-resolution structural insight into macromolecules. "The exceptionally intense X-ray pulses possible with FELs open the door for analyzing completely new classes of biomolecules like proteins from the cell membrane, that are hard or nearly impossible to...
There's nothing like a new pair of eyeglasses to bring fine details into sharp relief. For scientists who study the large molecules of life from proteins to DNA, the equivalent of new lenses have come in the form of an advanced method for analyzing data from X-ray crystallography experiments. The findings, just published in the journal Science, could lead to new understanding of the molecules that drive processes in biology, medical diagnostics, nanotechnology and other fields. Like...
UCLA researchers are now able to peer deep within the world's tiniest structures to create three-dimensional images of individual atoms and their positions. Their research, published March 22 in the journal Nature, presents a new method for directly measuring the atomic structure of nanomaterials. "This is the first experiment where we can directly see local structures in three dimensions at atomic-scale resolution — that's never been done before," said Jianwei (John) Miao, a professor...
MANCHESTER, England, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Conformetrix Ltd, a leader in optimising drug discovery and design, has appointed Dr Sam Williams as Chief Executive Officer, it is announced today. Dr Williams, who has extensive transactional and business development expertise, was previously a Non-Executive Director of the company. He takes over from one of Conformetrix's founder scientists, Dr Andrew Almond, who becomes Chief Technology Officer....
A new semi-automated tool called pathwalking makes it possible to generate a "first draft" model of a protein fold taken from near-atomic resolution images of between three and six angstroms (Å), said researchers at the National Center for Macromolecular Imaging in the department of biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine. In a report that appears online in the journal Structure, the BCM team describes the development of the semi-automated protocol that enables researchers to "rapidly...
A new semi-automated tool called pathwalking makes it possible to generate a "first draft" model of a protein fold taken from near-atomic resolution images of between three and six angstroms (Å), said researchers at the National Center for Macromolecular Imaging in the department of biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine. In a report that appears online in the journal Structure, the BCM team describes the development of the semi-automated protocol that enables researchers to "rapidly...
Using a unique facility in the US, researchers at the University of Gothenburg have found a more effective way of imaging proteins. The next step is to film how proteins work – at molecular level. Mapping the structure of proteins and the work they do in cells could be the key to cures for everything from cancer to malaria. Last year Richard Neutze, professor of biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg, and his research group were among the first in the world to image proteins using...
