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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Optimization of Crystal Growth for Neutron Macromolecular Crystallography
Published on: March 13, 2021
Protein crystallization and phase diagrams
1Department of Physics, Center for Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Processing Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. asherie@mit.edu
Abstract:
The phase diagram is a map which represents the state of a material (e.g., solid and liquid) as a function of the ambient conditions (e.g., temperature and concentration). It is therefore a useful tool in processing many different classes of materials. In this article, methods to determine the phase diagram of an aqueous solution of a globular protein are described, focusing on the solid (crystal) and condensed liquid states. The use of the information contained in the phase diagram for protein crystallization is also discussed.
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