Macromolecular movies, storybooks written by nature

Biophys Rev. 2021 Nov 3;13(6):1191-1197. doi: 10.1007/s12551-021-00846-1. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Twelve years ago, the first free electron laser for hard X-rays (XFEL), the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), came online. Due to the extreme brilliance and the ultrashort pulse duration of their X-ray radiation, XFELs are exceptionally well positioned to conduct time-resolved studies on biological macromolecules. Here, some of the pioneering experiments and recent results are summarized.

Keywords: Biological Macromolecules; Mix-and-Inject Serial Crystallography; Serial Femtosecond Crystallography; Structural Dynamics; Time-Resolved (Serial) Crystallography; X-ray Free Electron Laser.

Publication types

  • Review