RECENT RESULTS AND NEW HARDWARE DEVELOPMENTS FOR PROTEIN CRYSTAL-GROWTH IN MICROGRAVITY

Protein crystal growth experiments have been performed on 16 space shu ttle missions since April 1985. The initial experiments used vapor dif fusion crystallization techniques similar to those used in laboratorie s for earth-based experiments. More recent experiments have assessed t emperature-induced crystallization as an alternative method for growin g high quality protein crystals in microgravity. Results from both vap or-diffusion and temperature-induced crystallization experiments indic ate that protein crystals grown in microgravity may be larger, display more uniform morphologies, and yield diffraction data to significantl y higher resolutions than the best crystals of these proteins grown on earth.