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Tiny microbes and molecular machines have an outsized impact on human health, and they play key roles in the vast global cycles that shape climate and make carbon and nitrogen available to all living things. 

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Science of life

This illustration shows arrestin, an important type of signaling protein

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Scientists have assembled an exotic toolbox for experiments that tap into the brightest X-rays on the planet.

Image - This illustration shows a cutaway view of a type of sample system used at the Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser that jets samples in a superthin liquid or gel stream into its X-ray pulses. This system is known as a gas dynamic virtual nozzle
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Research performed in part at SLAC has provided new insights into how "TH proteins" couple two important processes needed to maintain healthy cells.

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A scientist at Germany’s DESY lab who participated in pioneering studies at SLAC's LCLS has been awarded a scientific prize by a research foundation.

Image - Henry Chapman (DESY)
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Understanding details of a flu antibody offers new insight for future structure-based drug discovery and novel avenues for designing vaccines.

A false color image of an influenza virus particle
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Researchers captured the highest-resolution snapshots ever taken with an X-ray laser that show changes in a protein’s structure over time.

Image - This illustration depicts an experiment at SLAC that revealed how a protein from photosynthetic bacteria changes shape in response to light.
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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are combining the speed and precision of robots with one of the brightest X-ray...

This illustration shows the components in an experimental setup used in crystallography experiments at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser.
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Scientists have used SLAC’s X-ray laser to produce detailed images of tiny cellular structures that play a major role in Earth’s life-sustaining carbon cycle.

Image - A geometric structure from a bacterial cell, called a carboxysome, is struck by an X-ray pulse (purple) at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
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A new experimental station in development at SLAC will expand capabilities for atomic-scale explorations in human health, biology, energy and environmental science.

Image - This artistic rendering shows planned instrumentation for a Macromolecular Femtosecond Crystallography (MFX) experimental station at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source. MFX will expand LCLS's capacity and flexibility for biological experiments.
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Scientists at Genentech and SLAC have watched a key human protein change from a form that protects cells to one that kills them, providing...

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Discovery at SLAC's Synchrotron Could Lead to New Drug Designs, Treatments

Image - In this rendering, the structure of the nuclear receptor transcription factor Steroidogenic Factor-1 (SF-1, shown in gray) is bound by the signaling phospholipid referred to as "PIP3" (blue and red). (Raymond Blind/UCSF)
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System Studied at SLAC's Synchrotron Mimics Steps in Photosynthesis

Image - This illustration of a model molecular complex mimics the final step in the cycle of photosynthesis: oxygen release.
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Experiment at SLAC's X-ray Laser Opens Door to Exploring Cell Interiors

Image - These micrograph images show rod-shaped bacterial cells suspended in pure water. The dark rectangular shapes inside the cells correspond to naturally occurring crystals within the cells.