how to power a crystal growth accelerator

In-solution protein experimental cell design Yet, protein crystallization in space is not entirely a perturbation-free process as transient accelerations that may affect the crystal growth process originate from onboard human activity and/or space mission operations 19, 20. Crystallization in space begun ~40 years ago with the idea that in microgravity the crystals will grow with enhanced properties that would eventually improve the quality of the derived X-ray diffraction data 17, 18.

The goal of macromolecular crystallography is to reveal the macromolecule’s three-dimensional (3D) structure at the atom’s level by using X-ray diffraction on crystals obtained from a variety of experimental setups 16. A further technological application, crystallization of mineral 11, inorganic 12, colloidal 13, 14, 15, and macromolecular samples, has been widely explored. Reduced gravity offers boundless opportunities for technological exploration in areas such as tissue engineering 6, biomaterials 7, energy production 8, geological prospection 9, or for in-space supply manufacturing 10. Proteins sustain the complex life processes of gravity-evolved multicellular organisms and, to a bigger or lesser degree, they can acclimate to changes in gravity as several studies have suggested 2, 3, 4, 5.

Second to water, a typical human cell is by mass 20% protein of which there are ~10 4–10 5 different species 1. We finally show that our gimbal payload module design is a portable experimental setup to take laboratory research investigations into exploratory space flights. After flight, we used X-ray diffraction analysis to determine that flown protein has a structural rearrangement marked by loss of the protein’s water and sodium in a manner that differs from crystals grown on the ground. We designed a biaxial gimbal to house the crystallization experiments and take measurements on the protein solution in-flight with a spectrophotometry system. Here, we have developed a low-cost crystallization cell within a CubeSat payload module to exploit the unique experimental conditions set aboard a sounding rocket. However, the effects of changing gravitational vectors on a protein solution reaching supersaturation remain largely unknown.

Unlike Earth’s crystallization experiments, biomolecular crystallization in space in the absence of gravitational force is actively sought to improve crystal growth techniques. Protein crystallization is a powerful technique to achieve this. Determining the spatial arrangement of the atoms, the protein’s 3D structure, enables key advances in fundamental and applied research. Catalyzing life-sustaining reactions, proteins are composed by 20 different amino acids that fold into a compact yet flexible three-dimensional architecture, which dictates what their function(s) might be.

How to power a crystal growth accelerator