With the advent of XFELs a new field of crystallography has emerged, serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX). XFELs are capable of delivering highly intense pulses of X-rays with femtosecond timescales, with spatial coherence. This new field allows structural biologists to carry out experiments and analysis previously not possible with standard MX. SFX allows the samples to be at high-resolution.
Applications of SFX include time-resolved measurements and the analysis of systems previously damaged too greatly by MX.
The UK is taking a leading role in the development of a new structural biology facility (SFX) at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), in Hamburg, Germany, and a complementary facility at Diamond (The UK XFEL Hub) to help develop the required expertise.
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