Fan’s X-ray crystallography work at SLAC’s synchrotron moves us closer to a more protective coronavirus vaccine and a better understanding of how vital materials flow in and out of cells.

Powerful X-rays from SLAC’s synchrotron reveal that our immune system’s primary wiring seems to be no match for a brutal SARS-CoV-2 protein.

After almost two decades of synchrotron experiments, Caltech scientists have captured a clear picture of a cell’s nuclear pores, which are the doors and windows through which critical material in your body flows in and out of the cell’s nucleus...

By revealing the chemistry of plant secretions, or exudates, these studies build a basis for better understanding and conserving art and tools made with plant materials.

Researchers discover that a spot of molecular glue and a timely twist help a bacterial enzyme convert carbon dioxide into carbon compounds 20 times faster than plant enzymes do during photosynthesis. The results stand to accelerate progress toward converting carbon...

Sandwiching wiggly proteins between two other layers allows scientists to get the most detailed images yet of a protein that’s key to the spread of acute myeloid leukemia.

Recently developed methods now in use at SLAC’s X-ray synchrotron helped a team of chemists better understand how certain bacteria turn light into chemical energy.

A better understanding of this process could inform the next generation of artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy.

In two new papers, researchers used X-ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy to reveal new details of the structure and function of molecular assembly lines that produce common antibiotics.

The results could lead to a better understanding of reactions with vital roles in chemistry and biology.

Scientists who perform experiments at SLAC’s lightsources gathered online for research talks, workshops and discussions.

This is the first direct observation of a hydroxyl-hydronium complex – important for a wide range of chemical and biological processes from the tails of comets to cancer treatment.