SLAC topics

Structural molecular biology RSS feed

Structural molecular biology uses various scientific techniques to map the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in biological molecules. 

Science of life

Probing Molecular Dynamics in Real Time from Within with Free Electron Lasers.

Press Release

High-speed X-ray camera reveals ultrafast atomic motions at the root of organisms’ ability to turn light into biological function.

a protein from photosynthetic bacteria
News Feature

New insights into how bacteria interact with host cells could help fight off harmful microbes.

News Feature

Scientists have determined in atomic detail how a potential drug molecule fits into and blocks a channel in cell membranes that Ebola and related...

Alex Kintzer and Robert Stroud at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source.
News Feature

Ian Wilson explains how scientists have found a way to induce antibodies to fight a range of influenza viruses, which could some day eliminate...

News Feature

A tiny change in the length of a chemical bond makes a big difference in the activity of a molecule important in health, drug...

Image - Courtney Krest Roach (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Press Release

A biomedical breakthrough reveals never-before-seen details of the human body’s cellular switchboard that regulates sensory and hormonal responses.

 Illustration shows arrestin (yellow), an important type of signaling protein, while docked with rhodopsin (orange).
News Feature

An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser provides new insight into the ultrafast motions of a muscle protein in a basic biochemical reaction.

Computerized rendering of 3-D structure of myoglobin. The jagged green line represents a pulse of la
News Feature

A team led by Stanford University scientists is using software to breathe new life into results from past biological experiments at SLAC’s X-ray laser.

This illustration shows Tiny crystallized biomolecules in a liquid solution (right) are streamed into X-ray laser pulses (shown as a white beam) in this illustration of crystallography at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser.
News Feature

Developed at SLAC’s LCLS, it could also yield new information from hard-to-study samples in materials science, chemistry and other fields.

Image - These charts show (a) the energy profile of two electron bunches that are separated by about 6 picoseconds, which are later stimulated to emit (b) two X-ray pulses separated by femtoseconds.
News Feature

An X-ray laser experiment could lead to new drugs that lessen the side effects caused by powerful painkillers like morphine.

Image - This rendering shows a type of cellular membrane protein known as a delta opioid receptor (purple) with a compound derived from a naturally occurring peptide (orange, blue and red) bound inside its “pocket.” The peptide compound shows promise as a
News Feature

Research reveals that the bacterial immune system can better destroy viral attackers by saving genetic records of previously encountered viruses.

News Feature

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