Workshop: Progress and prospects for neutron scattering in the biological sciences; September, 2017; Washington, D.C.

本次研讨会将讨论中子散射作为生物学研究的重要工具的进展和前景，中子散射可以为复杂生物系统提供难以捉摸的、关键的、独特的信息。研讨会将特别强调将高性能计算与中子散射相结合。教育和更广泛的影响活动，以便更好地获得中子散射方法，也将是讨论的重点。研讨会将通过定义使用中子散射作为研究生物系统的工具所需的科学、工程和数据挑战，提供路线图。最近世界范围内的研究和发展活动创造了利用中子散射作为生物研究的另一个重要工具的机会。这项技术提供了极好的潜力，可以提供以前难以捉摸的关于复杂生物系统的信息，这些信息是其他测量工具无法获得的。中子是研究生物过程固有的多尺度现象的理想选择。在不带电的情况下，它们几乎不会造成辐射损伤，并且具有很强的穿透力，可以在复杂的样品环境中使用。此外，中子具有与原子运动相似的能量，并且它们的自旋可以在自旋回波测量中与磁场耦合，从而允许在从皮秒到微秒的广泛时间尺度上研究动态过程。此外，中子对生物学的一个特别理想的特性与氢(H)有关，氢是生物系统中最丰富的元素。光子和电子与原子电场相互作用。只有一个电子的氢，对x射线或光几乎是不可见的。另一方面，中子与原子核相互作用，而质子具有相对较强的负散射长度。同位素氘(D)的散射长度更强，为正。中子对H和D的不同敏感性允许通过同位素取代增强复杂生物系统特定部分的可见性。这些性质是中子散射可以用来在原子水平上获得H的精确位置和动力学信息的基础，以及在更长的长度和时间尺度上获得大的、动态的、多域复合物的真正独特信息。研讨会将讨论中子晶体学、小角散射、衍射、反射和成像技术，以研究从原子到微米长度尺度的软物质结构，并通过光谱测量、从亚皮秒到微秒时间尺度的自和集体运动和激发。本次研讨会由生物科学理事会分子和细胞生物科学部的分子生物物理学项目、化学部门的生命过程化学项目和物理部门的生命系统物理学项目共同资助，这两个项目都隶属于数学和物理科学理事会。

This workshop will discuss the progress and prospects in the field of neutron scattering as a vital tool in biological research that could provide elusive and critical, unique information about complex biological systems. Special emphasis of the workshop will be on combining high-performance computation with neutron scattering. Education and broader impact activities to enable better access to neutron scattering methodologies will also be a focus of the discussion. The workshop will provide a road-map by defining the scientific, engineering and data challenges required to use neutron scattering as a tool to study biological systems.Recent world-wide research and development activities have created an opportunity to use neutron scattering as another vital tool in biological research. This technology offers excellent potential to provide previously elusive information about complex biological systems unobtainable with other measurement tools. Neutrons are ideal for studying multi-scale phenomena intrinsic to biological processes. With no charge, they cause little radiation damage and are highly penetrating, enabling use of complex sample environments. Also, neutrons have energies similar to atomic motions, and their spin can be coupled to magnetic fields in spin echo measurements, allowing the study of dynamic processes over a wide range of timescales, from picoseconds to microseconds. Moreover, a particularly desirable property of neutrons for biology has to do with hydrogen (H), the most abundant element in biological systems. Photons and electrons interact with the atomic electric field. With just one electron, hydrogen is all but invisible to x-rays or light. Neutrons, on the other hand, interact with nuclei, and protons have a relatively strong and negative scattering length. The isotope deuterium (D) has an even stronger scattering length, which is positive. This different sensitivity of neutrons to H and D allows for enhanced visibility of specific parts of complex biological systems through isotopic substitution. These properties are the foundation by which neutron scattering can be used to obtain precise information on the location and dynamics of H at the atomic level, as well as truly unique information on large, dynamic, multi-domain complexes at longer length and time scales. The workshop will discuss neutron crystallography, small angle scattering, diffraction, reflectometry and imaging for studying soft matter structure from the atomic to micrometer length scales and, via spectroscopic measurements, self and collective motions and excitations from sub-picosecond to microsecond timescales. This workshop is co-funded by the Molecular Biophysics Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences in the Biological Sciences Directorate, and by the Chemistry of Life Processes Program in the Division of Chemistry and the Physics of Living Systems Program in the Division of Physics, both in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.