Macromolecular Crystallography (MX)

Diamond’s world-class macromolecular crystallography facility provides cutting-edge capabilities to determine the 3D structures of biological targets, at atomic level.

It enables pharmaceutical, biotech and agrochemical companies to accelerate the identification & validation of lead compounds, whilst giving a clear picture of the interaction between ligand and its target. This precise information helps to orientate the design of new drug candidates in order to improve their potency and selectivity.

Here at Diamond, our MX beamlines incorporate advanced robotic systems with software for automated sample handling, crystal centring and data collection. In addition, microfocus beamlines are perfectly suited for studying small or challenging samples. Tools for serial crystallography and in situ data collection are in place for users to optimise their research.

We have also developed high performance automated processing pipelines for integration, scaling and phasing data in real time for immediate structure analysis at the beamline.

We can help you to make the most out of your MX experience with the support of our dedicated, highly skilled, team of industrial scientists. And of course, if MX is just part of your research journey, we can also provide a range of complementary techniques all available on the same site. These include cryo electron microscopy (eBIC), protein small angle scattering (SAXS), circular dichroism and a fragment screening platform based on X-ray crystallography (XChem) as well as services available at the membrane protein laboratory and crystallisation facility.  

• Standard data collection
• Experimental phasing (SAD, MAD)
• Fully automated data collection (UDC)
• Location of the best diffracting part (grid scans, X-ray centring).
• Collection of radiation-sensitive samples (line scans)
• In situ, dedicated MX environments (VMXi, I24)
• Serial crystallography (I24, on-demand).