Dioxygen (O2), critical for many of our cellular processes, is carried and activated by a variety of enzymes. These enzymes contain metals that contact the oxygen in different ways to form reactive intermediates. Oxygen’s reactivity is affected by the arrangement of the enzymes’ amino acid residues. Often, the enzyme active site will have a unique structure to stabilize oxygen binding.
Approximately 1,700 scientists visit SSRL annually to conduct experiments in broad disciplines including life sciences, materials, environmental science, and accelerator physics. Science highlights featured here and in our monthly newsletter, Headlines, increase the visibility of user science as well as the important contribution of SSRL in facilitating basic and applied scientific research. Many of these scientific highlights have been included in reports to funding agencies and have been picked up by other media. Users are strongly encouraged to contact us when exciting results are about to be published. We can work with users and the SLAC Office of Communication to develop the story and to communicate user research findings to a much broader audience. Visit SSRL Publications for a list of the hundreds of SSRL-related scientific papers published annually. Contact us to add your most recent publications to this collection.
March 2011
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
BL7-3, BL9-3
February 2011
Currently, organic or plastic solar cells are relatively inexpensive to make, yet they are also relatively inefficient. Researchers from Princeton University and SSRL recently studied the structure of organic solar cells that were manufactured and processed in different ways to better understand the causes of the inefficiencies.
X-ray diffraction
BL11-3
February 2011
Messenger RNA, responsible for relaying information from the DNA to the ribosomes, is given a 5’ cap and a 3’ tail. The 3′-end cleavage and polyadenylation are performed by a large protein complex that includes a scaffolding protein called symplekin.
Macromolecular Crystallography
BL9-2
January 2011
It took nature billions of years to evolve proteins that can selectively bind to certain metals. Researchers are now seeking to create such proteins synthetically in the lab, with the end-goal of creating new metal-based functions.
Macromolecular Crystallography
BL7-1, BL9-2
January 2011
Organic solar cells, which use organic polymers or small organic molecules to convert sunlight into a useable form of energy, are a promising new tool for providing inexpensive, environmentally friendly energy. To date organic solar cells have demonstrated comparatively low rates of efficiency, stability and strength. However, there is much room for improvement before the theoretical efficiency limits are reached.
X-ray diffraction, X-ray scattering
BL11-3
January 2011
Cisplatin, a platinum-based anti-cancer drug, is a widely-used and effective cancer chemotherapy drug. It slows the growth of cancer cells by inhibiting transcription through DNA modification, creating chemical links that serve as a roadblock as the polymerase attempts to transcribe the DNA into RNA.
Macromolecular Crystallography
BL11-1
December 2010
Researchers at SSRL have developed a new, more powerful way to probe the behavior of a key component in hydrogen fuel cells. The group, led by Daniel Friebel of SSRL and Anders Nilsson of SSRL and SIMES, coated a single crystal of rhodium with one layer of platinum atoms, creating a platinum catalyst that was in essence "all surface." The unique sample design allowed them to observe how the catalyst surface interacted with the type of acid–water environment typical of fuel cells.
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
BL6-2, BL11-2
December 2010
Life is mostly composed of the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorous. Although these six elements make up biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids, it is theoretically possible that some other elements in the periodic table could serve similar functions. In a paper published in Science, Wolfe-Simon et. al., describe a bacterium of the Halomonadaceae family, strain GFAJ-1 which appears to substitute arsenic for phosphorous to sustain its growth.
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
BL2-3
December 2010
Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, or NSF, is a relatively new disease in which the skin becomes hardened, joint movement becomes difficult and, in extreme cases, an excessive and sometimes fatal fibrosis tissue forms around organs. So far, NSF has only been observed in patients with kidney dysfunction who have undergone an MRI that required the injection of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Researchers speculate that the patient's kidneys cannot break down the gadolinium, causing NSF, but until now there has been no direct evidence for such a link.
X-ray microscopy, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
BL2-3
November 2010
Rice, the grain that provides more than one-fifth of the world population's calories, can become a health hazard if contaminated with arsenic. Such contamination, a surprisingly widespread occurrence, takes place in areas where soil or irrigation water is tainted by naturally occurring arsenic--including broad swaths of south and southeastern Asia. Studies have suggested that the natural iron coating around the roots of rice plants may serve as an important barrier to arsenic uptake because arsenic in its oxidized form has an affinity for iron. A team of Stanford and SSRL researchers recently sought to learn just how significant a barrier iron provides.
Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy
BL6-2, BL10-2
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