title: Synchrotron radiation macromolecular crystallography: science and spin-offs.
abstract: A current overview of synchrotron radiation (SR) in macromolecular crystallography (MX) instrumentation, methods and applications is presented. Automation has been and remains a central development in the last decade, as have the rise of remote access and of industrial service provision. Results include a high number of Protein Data Bank depositions, with an increasing emphasis on the successful use of microcrystals. One future emphasis involves pushing the frontiers of using higher and lower photon energies. With the advent of X-ray free-electron lasers, closely linked to SR developments, the use of ever smaller samples such as nanocrystals, nanoclusters and single molecules is anticipated, as well as the opening up of femtosecond time-resolved diffraction structural studies. At SR sources, a very high-throughput assessment for the best crystal samples and the ability to tackle just a few micron and sub-micron crystals will become widespread. With higher speeds and larger detectors, diffraction data volumes are becoming long-term storage and archiving issues; the implications for today and the future are discussed. Together with the rise of the storage ring to its current pre-eminence in MX data provision, the growing tendency of central facility sites to offer other centralized facilities complementary to crystallography, such as cryo-electron microscopy and NMR, is a welcome development.
authors: School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Brunswick Street, Manchester M13 9PL, England.
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: Helliwell
authors: ESRF, 71 avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France ; Faculty of Natural Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, England.
authors: Edward P
authors: EP
authors: Mitchell
keywords: X-ray lasers; automation; diffuse scattering; dynamics; expanding wavelength range; industrial and commercial access; microcrystals; neutrons; raw data; room-temperature studies; storage-ring upgrades; time-resolved studies