Structural Biology and Synchrotron Radiation: Assesment of Resources and Needs

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Structural biologists have been triggered to evaluate their current and future needs for synchrotron radiation by construction of new facilities at Argonne and at Berkeley. At a time when major requests will be submitted for funding of new instrumentation, it has become apparent that scant documentation exists on either the current or future needs of the structural biology community for synchrotron radiation. The Structural Biology Synchrotron Users Organization proposes to conduct an intensive, two-day workshop in order to document and assess these resources and needs and to advise the National Science Foundation in its role as sponsor of structural biology research. The proposed study group would 1) analyze data gathered from synchrotron users and synchrotron facilities that describe current resources and needs; 2) evaluate how scientific developments in the fields of genetic engineering, low-angle scattering, X-ray spectroscopy, x-ray microscopy, crystallography, computational technology, and instrument development affect structural biology today; 3) project future demand and capabilities; and 4) produce a document detailing these findings. The document, reviewed by major scientists in these fields, would be available to funding organizations, government bodies and the scientific community to facilitate planning for the future.