Hence, the understanding of such processes as enzyme catalysis and the mechanics of the transfer of hereditary information relies on obtaining an image of these molecules in three dimensions. A wide range of experimental and theoretical skills are applied from chemistry as well as physics, mathematics and molecular biology. The results obtained are finding wide reaching applications in pharmaceutical design and biotechnology.
Crystallisation is a critical step.
A crystallisation laboratory is available in the Department for growth of crystals of proteins and nucleic acids. X-ray collection is carried out within the Department on a rotating anode source equipped with a Rigaku diffractometer and an image plate area detector and also at UK and overseas synchrotron sources. Neutron data collection is undertaken at the Institut Laue Langevin in Grenoble. Electron density maps are calculated from the diffraction data. Molecular models are constructed from these electron density maps on our molecular graphics computer workstations.