Research and Facilities

Using light to uncover
the mysteries of life

Looking at complex biological phenomena at the molecular level, we find that they are the result of a number of different molecular activities and occur due to the interactions and chemical reactions between the protein and nucleic acid biological macromolecules. Proteins are huge macromolecules created when amino acids join together in chains but the specific 3-dimensional structure that the molecule adopts is critical to the functions that it performs. Understanding the details of the 3-dimensional protein structure is critical to gaining an understanding of biological phenomena.

The eyes to see the mysteries of life

Using the beamline for macromolecular assemblies (BL44XU), we can collect high-resolution diffraction intensity data for extremely large biological macromolecule assembly crystals which have a molecular weight of 10 million or more [g/mol] by using the highly parallel and luminescent SPring-8 undulator X-rays combined with ultra-sensitive 2-dimensional detectors that can collect high-speed data over a wide surface area. This facility is the only synchrotron radiation beam line in the world that is designed to collect highly accurate diffraction intensity data from biological macromolecule assemblies and it is used by a wide range of researchers from Japan and overseas.

Understanding the phenomena of life at the molecular level