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By studying a protein complex that facilitates the release of neurotransmitters, the brain’s signaling chemicals, scientists have managed to model its atomic structure in 3D! Knowledge of this atomic structure can help design treatments to control the release of such neurotransmitters. Many mental disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety, affect neurotransmitter systems. To generate the 3D model, scientists used X-rays to scan the protein complex. X-rays damage proteins, making it difficult to obtain good information. That’s why they used LCLS, the X-ray laser at SLAC, also known as an X-ray free electron laser or XFEL for short. The advantage of X-ray lasers over other X-ray light sources is the brightness and extremely short duration of the X-ray pulses. With such short, bright pulses, the X-rays expose the proteins and generate enough data to accurately map the atomic structure before they cause any damage. That's the power of XFELs. To understand more about how the XFEL at SLAC achieves such performance, we've created an explanatory video: https://youtu.be/kUeraeIkTmo
Curious about SLAC's XFEL, the most powerful X-ray laser built for scientific research on Earth? Post your questions in the comments.
The video was produced by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, home of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).
Musicbed License: MB01Y4LETXKSWKV
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