Crystals in a pink X-ray beam

A newly developed experimental set-up allows the X-ray structure determination of biomolecules such as proteins with far smaller samples and shorter exposure times than before. At so-called synchrotron sources, protein crystal can be studied considerably more efficiently and quickly by using broad-spectrum X-rays. However, due to the large amount of scattered radiation, this has until now required very large crystals. The newly developed experimental set-up now allows the unwanted scattered radi...