Nature describe landmark progress in understanding the structure of the ribosome.
The ribosome is a complex particle that makes the thousands of proteins that are required for the structure and function of each living cell. Both Nature reports are based on data generated by a scientific technique called x-ray crystallography, performed at the National Synchrotron Light Source, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. The ribosome is the largest and most complex component of a cell to be successfully studied via x-ray crystallography. Yale University and Brookhaven researchers reported on the structure of the large ribosomal subunit known as 50S, from the bacterium Haloarcula marismortui. These two independent research efforts point the way for future study of large ribosome complexes.