x Ray crystallography

x Ray crystallography is currently the most favoured technique for structur e determination of proteins and biological macromolecules. Increasingly, th ose interested in all branches of the biological sciences require structura l information to shed light on previously unanswered questions. Furthermore , the availability of a protein structure can provide a more detailed focus for future research. The extension of the technique to systems such as vir uses, immune complexes, and protein-nucleic acid complexes serves only to w iden the appeal of crystallography. Structure based drug design, site direc ted mutagenesis, elucidation of enzyme mechanisms, and specificity of prote in-ligand interactions are just a few of the areas in which x ray crystallo graphy has provided clarification.