Understanding Crystallography - Part 1: From Proteins to Crystals

How can you determine the structure of a complex molecule from a single crystal?
Professor Elspeth Garman take us on a journey into the world of crystallography - from protein production and purification to growing the right type of crystals.
In her laboratory at the University of Oxford Elspeth introduces us to some of the tricks of the trade, key techinques and the machines that help her team grow crystals ready for X-ray analysis at specialist facilities like Diamond Light Source.
Watch Part 2: From Crystals to Diamond: • Understanding Crystall...
This film was supported by the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC).
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[@Mikej1592]

I think one of the reasons I find this all fascinating is because I am NOT taking a class on it, I just watch it out of curiosity, I am sure if I was going to be tested on it I would be far more frustrated by the material. My suggestion to anyone is always learn as much as you can on your own time so that when it comes down to being required to know or learn something you will already have some inkling of knowledge of the subject matter and it will still be somewhat fun but not nearly as daunting as if you were witnessing it for the first time blindly shrouded in the pressure of needing to learn it all before a a major exam.

[@ktgirl-oh9px]

The same applies for me. Learning something out of curiosity had made me understand the concept far better than in a classroom. Also tend to remember it for an extremely long period when I learn the topic in this manner.

[@youssoufkikah311]

@@ktgirl-oh9px I was just going to say that, I couldn't agree with both of you more than that.

[@ff-ti7nj]

@@youssoufkikah311 same

[@tippitytop]

Bhai mera bhi yhi haal hai

[@INDIOBRAVOO]

Whereas those who really study this subject, utter all kinds of insanity.

[@gizachewdiga]

This is a good appendix of advanced solid state physics. It is known that x-ray scattering/ Neutron scattering of protein structure is an essential advanced solid state physics. Thanks!

[@sean..L]

I find it so fascinating how minute changes in structure can have such a large impact on a compound’s properties.

[@TheAIEpiphany]

And then came DeepMind's AlphaFold

[@zachydrogeo]

I learned about X ray crystallography in my physics class when we went over interference and diffraction. Just searched for relevant videos on youtube, and I find out it has this crazy biological application! Science is such a trip lol

[@KuznVinny]

Now this is a video. I'm a chemist and have taken graduate quantum chemistry and organic chemistry courses at UVA. All my life I'm wondered how anyone can "get into" either chemical group theory -or- crystallography. If I'd seen this demonstration, I might have pursued both.

[@guillermopages6132]

Can you explain what happens when she hit the petridish? Its magic !

[@gurveersingh5877]

@@guillermopages6132 the solution in the petri dish is super saturated with a certain compound, such that the compound is barely on the edge of precipitating out of the solution as solid. The rod she hit the petri dish with contained a small amount of the compound that is supersaturated in the solution, providing a site of crystallization for the dissolved molecules. Since the solution is already supersaturated, the small addition of the already crystalized compound allowed the dissolved molecules to begin crystallizing in a cascading manner starting from the rod.

[@colemangoenner3195]

I started solving RNA crystal structures and I think this video is where I first heard of it.

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

How can you determine the structure of a complex molecule too small to see under a microscope? This video will make things crystal clear...

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Thanks to Professor Elspeth Garman and STFC

[@lennonotaku]

Thanks for posting such an interesting video. I have been thinking about how molecules are visualized for a while.

[@liamcarman6256]

Crystal clear... lol

[@Aythe1]

The Royal Institution Thank you for the post!! I have this subject in my exam. This video makes everything much clearer :-)

[@violinsheetmusicblog]

+The Royal Institution lmao that pun :)

[@tactixsky]

wow this actually answers (at least part of) a question that's been eating everyday for a while. Thanks

[@johnjslatteryherbalist]

Isn't it wonderful how the natural world continually cooperates with the assumptions made by scientists in that their interventions will always produce outcomes in alignment with their intentions.

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

Excellent video! Can't wait for the rest of the series.

[@2glam4aUsername]

This video was very educational and also interesting. Usually these types of videos don't help but this one was really helpful.

[@js2010ish]

Well done many thanks to Prof. Elspeth Garman

[@michaelgreenberg5669]

This was so cool! thank you. PRobably one of the neatest and most informational productions I've watched to aid in my learning.

[@waterunderthebridge7950]

It’s so marvellous to think that you can plan an entire (or even multiple) PhD projects just on the structural analysis of a single protein Now with ever-advancing technology (such as AlphaFold) making more and more exact predictions, it’s becoming simpler to gather fundamental information so that we can hopefully re-route future scientists to doing even more complex work based on these fundamentals

[@davidsmookler5757]

This was marvelous, thank yo so much for clearly explaining this. Full stop, that was great. So not a complaint, but I was sorry at the brevity of the explanation of how the spots tell you what the structure is, covered between 4:22 to 4:30. I guess that would require another video to explain. : ) Oh, there's a part 2, LOL, I was too impatient to wait till the end to comment. Very good.

[@kaitsune00]

this is amazing! I only learned little about it in one of my bio lectures so it's good to have a better understanding of it because it is actually so interesting !!

[@LoLokMan-v1d]

[@MrSimonscool]

Epic music from LASERS at the very end :) Very interesting video!

[@secretsocietyserver]

Very fascinating

[@KHA00121]

So uh this video is quite old but i was wondering if there's anyway for me to receive more in depth information about all of this especially the actual process behind crytallising and what these additives do to the protein. If yes please do reply and thank you very much this video was more informative than hours of google.

[@HiAdrian]

This video is really well done, thanks!

[@patrickridley9907]

Very nicely done.

[@anjantk4867]

superb video

[@Wourly]

Thank you very much, I now has a hope for accomplishing my structural bioinformatics class, which kind of frightened me today! (But it's still just a hope only.)

[@kanayadeliz2584]

I've always hated biology but loved chemistry. This is kind of making me reevaluate that...

[@iliasasdf]

Very well. I enjoyed it.

[@maggir3598]

This was very helpful!

[@prakritirds]

became a fan of you after watching it

[@WilliamRagsdale4680]

4:56 well that was pretty fin cool!

[@egs8545]

Thank you so much for making this video; so helpful!!!!!

[@FishKungfu]

Science is awesome!

[@suraiyayeasmin5437]

wow ! This is amazing !!!

[@alephii]

amazing... thanks for posting

[@chawkzero]

Around 2:55, where the little crystals grow out of the blob of liquid, is that an actual recording of the process under a microscope, or is it just nice CGI? 'cause damn, it looks awesome!

[@EdProsser]

It's awesome isn't it? It's a timelapse of Lysozyme crystals forming - it's sped up a lot though!

[@LA-MJ]

Nature is more beautiful than CGI

[@tlmcraig]

The Royal Institute - Make a video on protein expression at the EMBL!

[@ArpitaDas-ss8bz]

Hi, how do you screen for the protein concentration and buffer conditions to set up for crystals? My proteins are around 50kDa in weight, so how should I know what concentration it should form crystals?

[@camilolopez92]

Increíble !!!

[@sarahli6425]

wow this is so cool

[@khalidhelmy9852]

thanks for the great illustration. would you please clarify what is the role of sodium acetate ?

[@mauhey]

Could you please explain me the basics of why the detection limit of a photon is strictly associated with its wavelength? Why a "visible" photon is not good per se to get info at the atomic level. Just to make an example infrared spectoscopy can be used to study molecules whose size is far below IR wavelength. Sorry for being naive :-)

[@bladdnun3016]

The difference is in the mechanism getting measured. With IR spectroscopy, you are looking at absorption of the radiation, for which the wavelength matters only insofar as it determines the energy of the photons. With X-ray diffractometry, the scattering process is essentially a geometric affair, so wavelength matters, energy doesn't. Since you know about IR spectroscopy, I suspect you know about the double slit experiment. X-ray diffractometry is basically that but way more complicated.

[@originalAtreyu]

What was the crystallizing petri dish wave. Asking for an Art Robins user

[@TheKingbob12th]

Univeristy of Oxford? D: Great video.

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Ooops.

[@bubufestusparkle4677]

wow ribosome knew u were a big protein, but never put into perspective till now....

[@jiageng1997]

95% of what you're looking at is actually ribosomal RNA

[@Bsqueezy]

@@jiageng1997 rna tastes salty when you put it on your tongue

[@caioreis9626]

awesome

[@FourTwentyMagic]

Hehh she's my maths professor!

[@eliotsennett3003]

Why tf she a math prof lol

[@annahall8480]

@@eliotsennett3003 she has a phd in physics so i think she's pretty qualified... she used to teach maths to undergrads in the biochem course at oxford, not to mathematicians

[@javierborda8684]

What's the function or purpose of the shape it takes?

[@yutverg6109]

Yes it's very interesting, but it would be a good idea to take a simple example with a simple protein.

[@morgellonbetancor1453]

muy interesante!!!!!

[@jeffinelnaroy7647]

5:00 whaaa? How did tht happen?

[@WetaMantis]

5:03 Lyoko music

[@fotoviva123]

I'd really like to know what the real application of the knowledge about 3-dimentional molecule structure is. Can't figure this out from the information on crystallography

[@SimonScientist]

The knowledge of life :) Knowing the 3D structure of enzymes helps us understand how they fold and how they work. This can be important when trying to design therapeutic drugs, some examples are Captopril (drug used to control blood pressure) and Saquinavir (drug used to combat HIV). (Talele et al. 2010) The RCSB promote a new molecule every month on their homepage, have a look for many more examples of why people solve crystal structures. www.rcsb.org/

[@RusticRiceball]

At around 0:40 it says Elspeth Garman, Univeristy of Oxford. Univeristy. :/

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Ooops.

[@vinish542]

why is the music erie

[@krecikowi]

Will crystal preserve 3D structure of protein? What about solution changing 3D structure?

[@metaphysicsmike]

Imagine looking at sixtine chapel, being like WOW! What an amazing process and work of art! ...And then pay no respect to Michaengelo? That's this women being "in awe" of the crystallography in nature, paying no respect to God.

[@fatimamumtaz489]

informative..

[@sree7834]

❤️❤️❤️

[@Stop-and-listen]

I wonder what is the purity of the crystal.

[@akashxoxo386]

I have a quiz tomorrow on this vid

[@Dakuta12]

what is a univeristy

[@ValsGym]

If possible, I for one, would be really interested to know exactly how complex components (the stuff that has been put in layman terms) work

[@mr.harambae]

Can I get a job at this laboratory? Pretty Please.

[@LA-MJ]

I'm yet to see a biochemist discuss how much of the crystal structured determined is actually relevant in biologic medium.

[@danielhicks1824]

It's generally very similar to the same as the biological structure. The crystallization is the process of keeping them from spinning around in solution and stuff, ideally not drastically altering the shape

[@sebastianaguiarbrunemeier9192]

Holding an E.Coli dish without gloves!!! X_X

[@nthumara6288]

my dream job is working in a crystolograpy lab

[@user-xw8vv7es3o]

Strictly speaking, one can indeed get an idea about shape of molecule by measuring scattering of protein in solution. Called SAXS...

[@rfldss89]

can someone tell me why e coli bacteria are used in so many lab studies? are they easier to work with?

[@satwikchalasani]

probably because they divide quickly giving the required DNA quickly. Not quite sure...

[@rfldss89]

sounds plausible. thanks.

[@satwikchalasani]

My pleasure.. Genetic Engineering is one fascinating branch of science. :)

[@tlmcraig]

It's because e.coli and the media are cheap. They also grow fast. For many of the difficult modern target proteins they need to be produced in insect, yeast, and mammalian cells!

[@nthumara6288]

ohh now i undestand wht in our solid state couse our lecthue teached the x ray diffractiojn

[@drozdzuo]

Crystals of nucleic acids. Kryształy kwasów nukleinowych.

[@sigmas1933]

Some "hotel" ..jeeez !

[@WiseRomanEmperor]

YES MR WHITE!

[@akrulla]

This is rediculous. You people are mental. Human beings truely are amazing creatures. What's the name of the lady Watson and Crick stole this idea from?

[@yolantab2949]

They didn't invent the technique, neither the lady they stole their results from. The crystal structure of DNA was discovered by Rosalind Franklin and her PhD student, and Watson and Crick discovered their lab books.

[@ufukyarsan2149]

they are mad

[@RichardCorral]

Scientist are such clever mofos