We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




New Technology Developed To Visualize Molecules in Motion

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 30 Dec 2008
Print article
An innovative X-ray technology has been developed that allows the observation of molecular motion on a time scale never reached before.

The technique was developed by a team of researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL; Switzerland) and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI; Villigen, Switzerland). Results of the research, led by Prof. Majed Chergui, head of EPFL's laboratory of ultrafast spectroscopy in collaboration with collaborators at PSI, was published online December 11, 2008, in the journal Science.

According to the scientists, this discovery provides a promising approach for the study of chemical and biologic systems. It allows a better determination of the structural evolution of molecules during a chemical reaction. The researchers have applied it to the study of metal-based molecular complexes, which is of high interest for chemical researchers. This could lead to applications in magnetic data storage or solar energy. It also opens new perspectives in biology, because the molecules studied are analogous to the active center in hemoproteins (hemoglobin, myoglobin).

It is possible to follow a cat landing on its feel in real time using a camera with shutter times on the order of tens of milliseconds. To do the same with molecules, 100,000 million times smaller than cats, requires shutter times that are 100,000 million times faster--a few tens of femtoseconds (1 femtosecond is to a second what a second is to 32 million years).

Although there are lasers that permit such shutter speeds, no existing optical techniques can capture the molecular structure. To overcome this limitation, Prof. Chergui's team combined lasers delivering femtosecond pulses of ultraviolet-visible light with a source of femtosecond X-ray pulses, in a technique now known as ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy. "With the extremely short wavelengths of this kind of pulsed radiation, it is possible to observe the molecular structure changes, and thus to obtain precise information about the breaking, the formation, or the transformation of chemical bonds between atoms. And all this, in real time,” explained Prof. Chergui.

To reach this level of accuracy, the researchers required a source of stable and tunable femtosecond X-ray pulses. They found it at the Paul Scherrer Institute, in a collaboration with Dr. Rafael Abela's team. Utilizing the femtosecond X-ray pulses extracted from the Swiss Light Source synchrotron in a technique developed at the PSI, the researchers were able to track in real time a structural change of the molecule in 150 femtoseconds. This method, according to the scientists, should be an excellent modality for analyzing reactions in liquid and disordered environments that characterize many biologic and chemical systems.

Related Links:
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Paul Scherrer Institute


New
Gold Member
LEISHMANIA Test
LEISHMANIA ELISA
New
Gold Member
Chagas Disease Test
CHAGAS Cassette
New
Refrigerated Centrifuge
CAPPRondo Refrigerated Centrifuge
New
Ross River Virus Test
Ross River Virus Real Time PCR Kit

Print article

Channels

Immunology

view channel
Image: New research has revealed a novel biomarker for autoimmune diseases (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Novel Analytical Method Tracks Progression of Autoimmune Diseases

Patients with autoimmune diseases often have lifelong contact with doctors and hospitals. The typical patient diagnosed is a woman in her fifties and the disease requires lifelong treatment.... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The unique barcoding system enables tracking of K. pneumoniae as it moves throughout the body (Photo courtesy of AdobeStock)

Unique Barcoding System Tracks Pneumonia-Causing Bacteria as They Infect Blood Stream

Bacteremia, also known as blood poisoning, occurs when bacteria manage to overcome the body's immune defenses. This condition can progress into sepsis, a serious illness that is responsible for over a... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The squares are representative partial pictures from the cancer microscopy slides, that the AI system has automatically organized by their similarity (Photo courtesy of University of Jyväskylä)

New AI Tool Outperforms Previous Methods for Identifying Colorectal Cancer from Tissue Sample Analysis

Tissue analysis typically involves a pathologist reviewing scanned digital slides from a patient’s intestinal sample and marking specific areas, such as those where cancerous and related tissues are present.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.