X-ray Generator and CCD-Detectionsystem for Macromolecular Crystallography X-ray Diffractometer (XRD)

The X-ray Diffractometer for macromolecular Crystallography is a system to generate an intense beam of X-rays of defined wavelength and allow it to impinge on a crystal consisting of protein or DNA maintained at -180 degrees Celsius. The setup allows the crystal to be rotated around predefined axes while being irradiation so as to record as complete a set of diffraction data from the crystal as possible. The diffraction data are then analysed and integrated allowing the distribution of electrons in the crystal to be determined and hence the location of many thousands atoms to be determined with high reliability. Overall this system allows biological molecules to be visualized at atomic resolution.