Abstract
This chapter discusses the various diffraction methods such as X-ray and neutron diffraction. These diffraction methods are unique among the methods of molecular biophysics where they can be used to develop structural models that position tens of thousands of atoms in large macromolecules to within tenths of angstroms. In both cases, the structural models are derived from the interference patterns of radiation scattered from crystals of the material. Crystallography is being used with increasing frequencies to rationalize the biological activity of hormones, drugs, and proteins and in drug design. Data collection has become infinitely less laborious because of the development of powerful X-ray sources, including synchrotron radiation and of very efficient detection devices. Both the speed and size of the memory of computers have increased exponentially and the development of powerful computer software has made the computational aspects of crystallography much easier. Simultaneously, the advanced computer graphics has resulted in a shift in the way solved structures are analyzed with visual approaches now being as important as mathematical analyses. These changes have brought crystallography into the mainstream of biomedical research and made it a subject with which every molecular biologist needs to become conversant.
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