Strategic upgrade of crystal monitoring and optimisation equipment at ISMB, as critical infrastructure for structural biology and biochemistry

Protein X-ray crystallography is the foremost method to study the atomic level structure of proteins. Knowing protein structures is critical for understanding biological processes and the development of new drugs and vaccines. Enormous technical progress has been made in methods to determine protein structures. But, a major bottleneck is protein crystal formation. We screen thousands of protein/chemical mixtures to discover the appropriate combination in which protein crystals form. This process requires automation in the form of robots. We are seeking to significantly increase our capacity to screen by purchasing a liquid handling robot which will accurately prepare the chemical mixtures for crystallisation. In addition, an automated imaging system will detect the growth of protein crystals. The new equipment will be of key significance to the protein crystallography facility at Birkbeck that supports a diversity of highly successful laboratories at Birkbeck and UCL studying broad range of protein structures.