Feb 16, 2017
Revolutionary New Technique Visualizes Biomolecules Without Crystallization
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: particle physics, quantum physics
Quantum interpolation makes viewing Biomolecules at room temp. possible without freezing. This technique will enable more powerful sensors than we have ever had before.
In the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from MIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design are describing a new technique that may finally give life scientists a detailed view into many of the biomolecules they work with. These days, X-ray diffraction is typically used to see the structure of a molecule. But this requires crystallization, a process not all molecules, including many proteins, are unwilling to undergo.
The technology uses tiny diamond crystals that have a nitrogen atom in place of a single carbon atom. These so-called “nitrogen vacancy centers” make the crystals react to minute fluctuations of magnetic and electric fields surrounding them. They’re so sensitive that the spins of individual atoms of a nearby molecule affect them enough to be detected by an external device.
Continue reading “Revolutionary New Technique Visualizes Biomolecules Without Crystallization” »