Protein crystallography is a technique that utilizes x rays to deduce the three-dimensional structure of proteins. The proteins examined by this technique must first be crystallized.

When x rays are beamed at a crystal, the electrons associated with the atoms of the crystal are able to alter the path of the x rays. If the x rays encounter a film after passing through the crystal, a pattern can be produced following the development of the film. The pattern will consist of a limited series of dots or lines, because a crystal is composed of many repeats of the same molecule. Through a series of mathematical operations, the pattern of dots and lines on the film can be related to the structure of the molecule that makes up the crystal.

Crystallography is a powerful tool that has been used to obtain the structure of many molecules. Crystallography...