Recent developments in phasing and structure refinement for macromolecular crystallography
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Combining X-Ray Crystallography with Small Angle X-Ray Scattering to Model Unstructured Regions of Nsa1 from S. Cerevisiae
Published on: January 10, 2018
Paul D Adams1, Pavel V Afonine, Ralf W Grosse-Kunstleve
1Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BLDG 64R0121, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. PDAdams@lbl.gov
Abstract:
Central to crystallographic structure solution is obtaining accurate phases in order to build a molecular model, ultimately followed by refinement of that model to optimize its fit to the experimental diffraction data and prior chemical knowledge. Recent advances in phasing and model refinement and validation algorithms make it possible to arrive at better electron density maps and more accurate models.
Related Concept Videos
Determination of Crystal Structures
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...

