April 22-27, 2007

RapiData 2007 Brings Future Crystallographers to NSLS

For the ninth year in a row, future crystallographers from around the world gathered at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) for RapiData 2007. The weeklong crash course, held this year from April 22-27 for nearly 50 students, is designed to introduce participants to the best and latest equipment and techniques for macromolecular x-ray crystallography. The students also get to meet and learn from the leading developers of software in the field, and then actually use the NSLS beamlines to collect data.

The course is offered by BNL’s Biology and NSLS departments, and reflects an educational component of the PXRR (Macromolecular Crystallography Research Resource), funded jointly by the National Center for Research Resources – a branch of the National Institutes of Health – and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office for Biological & Environmental Research.

Participants in the RapiData 2007 macromolecular crystallography course.

The course began with two days of lectures and tutorials taught by scientists from BNL, industry, academia, and other national labs. After reviewing the fundamentals of crystallography, the students were divided into groups and guided through a marathon, 60-hour data-collection session on seven NSLS beamlines. At the same time, different tutorials were underway. Half of the students brought their own specimens with the goal of solving the structure of a particular enzyme, while the other half observed and helped. About 12 structures were solved during the course, each which could be a publishable result, said Bob Sweet, who organized the course along with Sal Sclafani, both of Biology.

“The whole experience is really exciting for students and teachers alike,” Sweet said. “The 60 hours of data collection are near chaos on the NSLS floor. Everyone ends up exhausted but happy.”

During the data-collection portion of the course, the students gathered each afternoon to discuss their results. In previous years, the students talked about their experiences, and problems they encountered or solved. Occasionally, they would report that a new structure had been solved. But the group “raised the ante” this year, Sweet said.

“They started producing mini lectures with an introduction to the subject and pictures to show the result and the quality of the data,” Sweet said. “It’s very neat to see these students get a result, and then tell a story about the science.”

In addition to the DOE and NIH funding, a special grant was provided by the International Union for Crystallography to assist seven Latin American students in attending the course. Additional support was provided by Brookhaven Science Associates, the NSLS, and several equipment vendors and drug companies.

For more information, go to http://www.px.nsls.bnl.gov/courses/rr_course_2007/.

ARTICLE BY: Kendra Snyder