- Number 333 | - March 21, 2011 An X-ray laser captures the
structures of life An X-ray laser captures the structures of
life Two studies published recently in Nature demonstrate how
the unique capabilities of the world’s first hard X-ray free-
electron laser—the Linac Coherent Light Source, located at DOE’s
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory—could revolutionize the
study of life. In one study, an international research team used
the LCLS to demonstrate a shortcut for determining the 3-D
structures of proteins. The laser’s brilliant pulses of X-ray
light pulled structural data from tiny protein nanocrystals,
avoiding the need to use large protein crystals that can be
difficult or impossible to prepare. This process could lop years
off the structural analysis of some proteins and allow
scientists to decipher tens of thousands of others that are out
of reach today, including many involved in infectious disease.
In a separate paper, the same team reported making the first
single-shot images of intact viruses, p