Crystals of proteins, nucleic acids, viruses and other biological macromolecules are also single crystals. This structure is indispensable for correctly determining the often complex biological functions of these macromolecules. The design of drugs is related to this, and involves designing a molecule that can exactly fit into a binding site of a macromolecule and block its function in the desease pathway. Producing better quality crystals will result in more accurate 3D protein structures, which in turn means its biological function can be known more precisely, also resulting in improved drug design. Bioseparations refers to the downstream processing of the products of fermentation.
Crystallization is one of the commonly employed techniques for separating the protein.
It has the advantage of being a benign separations process, that is, it does not cause the protein to unfold and lose its activity. The issues here are better prediction and control of the crystallization process to facilitate improved design of crystallization units. The latest application of protein crystals is as a means of achieving controlled drug delivery. Most drugs are cleared by the body rapidly following administration, making it difficult to achieve a constant desired level over a period of time. The challenge here is to produce crystals of relatively uniform sizes so that the dosage can be prescribed correctly.