I will agree with Artem here-
Having knowledge as to whether crystallisation is likely or not with a given
protein/ complex would be extremely useful.
If there were a set of screens/ tests/ experiments that one could run to show
that it was 99% certain that something was not going to work (or
Dear Kay
I disagree that 'magic bullet' is impossible. I think the definition is
wrong here - magic bullet to me is a rational set of methods that (when
executed with precision and care) enable crystallization to the maximum
possible benefit. This includes everything - constructs,
Dear Kay,
Even the small, badly diffracting and 'messed up' crystals are still
crystals. There is literally a phase transition (pun very much intended)
between growing *usable crystals* versus *having no crystals* (or having
crystals that do not qualify as 'diffraction quality' even under the
Hi All,
Agreed!
Crystallization methods have improved in some ways, but at least in my
experience the real energy barrier is usually knowing enough about the quirky
biochemistry of the particular idiosyncratic complex we happen to be working
on. That means that one may need a grant's
Hi Artem,
you are certainly correct in that James' points 2-9 would be moot if his point
1 were solved. But as long as this is not the case, we resort to work with few
and/or small and/or badly diffracting and/or non-isomorphous crystals, which
makes points 2-9 very relevant.
Maybe the
