One comment (not a complaint) on all this: it seems like the same questions
get asked over and over again. If there is a good place for a general
crystallography FAQ list it is well past time for one to be put together -
or maybe it just needs to be better advertised? At a minimum, for instance:
- what cryoprotectant should I use?
- how do I get big single crystals?
- how do I improve diffraction?
- how can I tell if I've solved my structure?
- why is my R-free stuck?
- is <pick random statistic> suitable for publication?
Some of the other common queries ("name my blob!") still need to be handled
on a case-by-case basis, but it would be much more efficient for everyone
if the standard answers were collected somewhere permanent.
-Nat
On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 7:05 AM, Eugene Valkov <[email protected]>wrote:
> I absolutely agree with Juergen.
>
> Leaving aside methods developers, who are a completely different breed,
> there is no such thing as a "crystallographer" sitting in a dark room
> solving structures all day. If there are, these are anachronisms destined
> for evolutionary demise.
>
> More and more cell biologists, immunologists and all other kinds of
> biologists are having a go at doing structural work with their molecules of
> interest themselves without involving the "professionals". Typically, they
> learn on the job and they need advice with all kinds of things ranging from
> cloning and protein preps through to issues with tetartohedrally-twinned
> data and interpreting their structures.
>
> So, a modern structural biologist is one who is equipped for the wet lab
> and has some idea of how to go about solving structures. CCP4BB is a
> wonderful resource that is great for both the quality of the advice offered
> to those that seek it and for the variety of topics that are addressed in
> the scope of structural biology. I have learnt greatly from reading posts
> from very skilled and knowledgeable scientists at this forum and then
> implemented these insights into my own research. I am very grateful for
> this.
>
> In short, please do not discourage your colleagues, particularly very
> junior ones, from posting to the CCP4BB. Some of the questions may appear
> quaint or irrelevant but it is easy to simply ignore topics that are of no
> interest!
>
> Eugene
>
>
> On 13 February 2014 14:41, Bosch, Juergen <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Let me pick up Eleanor's comment:
>> is there something like a crystallographer today ? I mean in the true
>> sense ?
>> I think as a "crystallographer" you won't be able to survive the next
>> decade, you need to diversify your toolset of techniques as pointed out in
>> this article
>> http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7485-711a
>>
>> And I'm not quite sure how software developers see themselves, as I would
>> argue they are typically maybe not doing so much wet lab stuff related to
>> crystallography (I may be wrong here) but rather code these days.
>>
>> What "type" of crystallographer is a software developer ?
>>
>> I think like our beloved crystals "we" come in different flavors. And we
>> need to train the next generation of students with that perspective in mind.
>>
>> Just my two cents on a snowy day (>30cm over night)
>>
>> Jürgen
>> ......................
>> Jürgen Bosch
>> Johns Hopkins University
>> Bloomberg School of Public Health
>> Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
>> Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
>> 615 North Wolfe Street, W8708
>> Baltimore, MD 21205
>> Office: +1-410-614-4742
>> Lab: +1-410-614-4894
>> Fax: +1-410-955-2926
>> http://lupo.jhsph.edu
>>
>> On Feb 13, 2014, at 6:41 AM, Eleanor Dodson <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I agree with Frank - it keeps crystallographers modest to know how
>> challenging wet lab stuff still is..
>> Eleanor
>>
>> On 12 February 2014 19:23, Robbie Joosten <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> It's not an e-mail bulletin board, but Researchgate seems to be quite
>> popular for wet lab questions. IMO the Q&A section of the social network
>> is
>> a bit messy. That said, the quality seems to improve gradually.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Robbie
>>
>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>> ________________________________
>> Van: Paul Emsley
>> Verzonden: 12-2-2014 19:23
>> Aan: [email protected]
>> Onderwerp: Re: [ccp4bb] Sister CCPs
>>
>>
>> On 12/02/14 15:59, George Sheldrick wrote:
>>
>> It would be so nice to have a 'sister CCP' for questions aboud wet-lab
>> problems that have nothing to do with CCP4 or crystallographic
>> computing, The is clearly a big need for it, and those of us who try
>> to keep out of wet-labs would not have to wade though it all.
>>
>>
>>
>> FWIW, the remit of CCP4BB, held at jiscmail-central, is describes as:
>>
>> /The CCP4BB mailing list is for discussions on the use of the CCP4
>> suite, and macromolecular crystallography in general./
>>
>>
>>
>> Thus wet-lab questions are not off-topic (not that anyone recently
>> described them as such).
>>
>> Having said that, Jiscmail mailing lists are easy to set-up (providing
>> that you can reasonably expect that the mailing list will improve
>> knowledge sharing within the UK centered academic community) and
>> relatively low maintenance. I, for one, would not be entirely unhappy to
>> miss out on questions about lysis.
>>
>> Paul.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Dr Eugene Valkov
>
> Room 3N049
> Division of Structural Studies
>
> MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
> Francis Crick Avenue
> Cambridge Biomedical Campus
> Cambridge CB2 0QH, U.K.
>
> Email: [email protected]
> Tel: +44 (0) 1223 267358
>
