Study of the crystalization process of Biological macro molecules.

Matching Funds: Influence of mass transport and surface growth processes on protein crystal perfection.

All key processes in the living cell depend on the error-free functioning of protein networks and to understand these detailed three-dimensional structural information is vital. Most of this structural information is obtained from X-ray crystallography. Obtaining suitable crystals for this method is still a major bottleneck. This project ties in with the efforts of the field to understand nucleation and growth of protein crystals in terms of their chemistry and physics, using models from the fields of colloid science and simulation of the crystallization process.