Argonne scientists develop techniques for creating
molecular movies
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ARGONNE, Ill. (April 15, 2008) — They may never win an Oscar, but scientists
at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have
developed techniques for creating accurate movies of biological and chemical
molecules, a
feat only theorized up until now.
Funding for this research was provided by the U.S. Department
of Energy,
Office of Science, Office of Basic
Energy Sciences. The mission of the
Basic Energy Sciences program—a multipurpose, scientific research effort—is
to foster and support fundamental research to expand the scientific
foundations for new and improved energy technologies and for understanding
and mitigating the environmental impacts of energy use. The portfolio supports
work in the natural sciences, emphasizing fundamental research in materials
sciences, chemistry, geosciences and aspects of biosciences. |
Biological and organic molecules in solution are far more complex than the
standard crystalline structures of salt or metals since they are constantly
moving and changing over time. These motions have not yet been seen directly,
but scientists using the high-intensity X-rays at the Advanced
Photon Source have measured images that are "blurred" by these motions and have
used them to create more accurate movies of molecular motions.
Computer simulations are currently the only way to visualize molecular motions
in solution, but researchers have not had a means to check the accuracy of
these simulations for complex molecules. For the first time, scientists can
see the movements first hand and compare them to their theoretical counterparts.
" The blurring that we see in our solution X-ray patterns are remarkably
sensitive to the type of the molecular motion," senior chemist David Tiede
said. "For the first time, we are able to test the accuracy of the simulation
and change it to fit data better. Without it, we had no way of knowing how
accurate the models were."
Tiede hopes an improved accuracy in molecular modeling will give insights
into the structure and behavior of the molecules. Collaborators at the National
Institutes of Health have used this approach to help determine structures of
important biological molecules.
Tiede and his collaborators also plan to examine how a structure reacts to
an outside stimulus. By using a laser to excite the atoms, he will create a
movie that shows how the molecule reacts to the initial laser pulse and also
how it returns to a stable condition.
"We hope to establish between'good' and'bad' molecular actors in important
chemical processes like photosynthesis, solar energy and catalysts," Tiede
said. "Once we see that, we can make these processes work better."
Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers
together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems
in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne
conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every
scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from
hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies
to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership
and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60
nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please contact Brock Cooper (630/252-5565
or bcooper@anl.gov) at Argonne.
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