LCLS Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI)

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February 17, 2015
News Feature
Study Could Pave the Way for Painkillers with Fewer Side Effects
An X-ray laser experiment could lead to new drugs that lessen the side effects caused by powerful painkillers like morphine.
Image - This rendering shows a type of cellular membrane protein known as a delta opioid receptor (purple) with a compound derived from a naturally occurring peptide (orange, blue and red) bound inside its “pocket.” The peptide compound shows promise as a
December 4, 2014
News Feature
X-ray Laser Reveals How Bacterial Protein Morphs in Response to Light
Researchers captured the highest-resolution snapshots ever taken with an X-ray laser that show changes in a protein’s structure over time.
Image - This illustration depicts an experiment at SLAC that revealed how a protein from photosynthetic bacteria changes shape in response to light.
September 3, 2014
News Feature
Scientists Map Protein in Living Bacterial Cells
Scientists have for the first time mapped the atomic structure of a protein within a living cell. The technique, which peered into cells with an X-ray laser, could allow scientists to explore some components of living cells as never before.
Image - These micrograph images show rod-shaped bacterial cells suspended in pure water. The dark rectangular shapes inside the cells correspond to naturally occurring crystals within the cells.
June 18, 2014
Press Release
Scientists Take First Dip into Water’s Mysterious ‘No Man’s Land’
Scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made the first structural observations of liquid water at temperatures down to minus 51 degrees Fahrenheit, within an elusive “no man’s land” where water’s strange properties are super-amplified.
Artist's concept - see caption
April 22, 2014
News Feature
Rolls-Royce, Collaborators Study Ways to Strengthen Titanium Aircraft Parts at LCLS
Rolls-Royce researchers came to SLAC earlier this month as part of a team testing titanium and its alloys, such as those used in engine parts, landing gear and other aircraft components
Photo - Despina Milathianaki, a staff scientist at SLAC's LCLS, holds a series of titanium alloy samples prepared for an experiment. The experiment was designed to study the laser-shocked state of the materials. (Fabricio Sousa/SLAC)
March 16, 2014
News Feature
Data-mining for Crystal 'Gold' at SLAC's X-ray Laser
A new tool for analyzing mountains of data from SLAC’s Linac Coherent Lightsource (LCLS) X-ray laser can produce high-quality images of important proteins using fewer samples. Scientists hope to use it to reveal the structures and functions of proteins that have proven elusive, as well as mine data from past experiments for new information
Photo - Nicholas Sauter, middle, points to a monitor during an experiment this month at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser.
December 19, 2013
Press Release
X-ray Laser Maps Important Drug Target
Researchers have used one of the brightest X-ray sources on the planet to map the 3-D structure of an important cellular gatekeeper known as a G protein-coupled receptor, or GPCR, in a more natural state than possible before.
Illustration - man with migraine, serotonin receptor bound to anti-migraine drug
November 25, 2013
Backstory: Marc Messerschmidt, Staff Scientist
Marc Messerschmidt, a staff scientist at the Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) experimental station at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser, describes his daily work, which is far from routine.
November 24, 2013
Press Release
Scientists Prove X-ray Laser Can Solve Protein Structures from Scratch
A study shows for the first time that X-ray lasers can be used to generate a complete 3-D model of a protein without any prior knowledge of its structure.
See caption
October 22, 2013
Press Release
Copper Shock: An Atomic-scale Stress Test
Scientists used the powerful X-ray laser at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to create movies detailing trillionths-of-a-second changes in the arrangement of copper atoms after an extreme shock.
thin samples of copper, iron and titanium

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