Making high-quality crystals large enough to usefully diffract X-rays is a major headache when attempting to determine protein structures by X-ray crystallography. Researchers prefer crystals that are 100–200 microns in size, with 5 microns being the smallest crystals that can be examined using a synchrotron X-ray source. More powerful X-rays provide better diffraction, but damage the crystals.
Smashing Crystals
A powerful new X-ray–generating laser is imaging smaller crystals than ever before.
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