MICROGRAVITY PROTEIN CRYSTAL-GROWTH - RESULTS AND HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT

Protein crystal growth experiments have been performed on a series of US shuttle missions. Crystallographic studies of proteins and nucleic acids have played key roles in establishing the structural foundations of molecular biology and biochemistry and for revealing structure/function relationships that are of major importance in understanding how macromolecules operate in biological systems. A number of major advances in the technology involved in determining protein structures have shortened the time span involved in structure determination. The major bottleneck in the widespread application of protein crystallography is the ability to produce high quality crystals that are suitable for a complete structural analysis. Evidence from several investigations indicates that crystals of superior quality can be obtained in a microgravity environment. This paper summarizes results obtained from a series of US shuttle missions and describes new hardware currently being developed for future shuttle missions.