Microgravity and Macromolecular Crystallography

TLDR

Macromolecular crystal growth is an ideal experiment for the reduced acceleration environment of orbiting spacecraft, and these small, simple experiments have high scientific and economic potential. The review examines why microgravity benefits crystal growth, surveys past experiments on the Space Shuttle, Mir, and unmanned spacecraft, and outlines directions for optimizing future use of orbiting platforms. The authors review theoretical advantages of microgravity for crystal growth and summarize experiments conducted on the Space Shuttle, Mir, and unmanned spacecraft. Microgravity crystal growth yields substantial improvements compared to the many Earth‑based experiments, as demonstrated by the limited but significant microgravity‑based studies.

Abstract

Macromolecular crystal growth is seen as an ideal experiment to make use of the reduced acceleration environment provided by an orbiting spacecraft. The experiments are small, are simply operated, and have a high potential scientific and economic impact. In this review we examine the theoretical reasons why microgravity is a beneficial environment for crystal growth and survey the history of experiments on the Space Shuttle Orbiter, on unmanned spacecraft, and on the Mir space station. The results of microgravity crystal growth are considerable when one realizes that the comparisons are always between few microgravity-based experiments and a large number of earth-based experiments. Finally, we outline the direction for optimizing the future use of orbiting platforms.