Course Identification

The course is designed to provide a reasonably detailed introduction to the methods used in crystallography, with emphasis on the determination of the structures of biomacromolecules, such as proteins. The course is intended for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the use of crystallography to solve such structures, as well as for those who wish to have more in-depth understanding of this technique.

Problem sets will be given out during the course for credit, and there will be a final exam.

• Overview: Light Microscopy vs Crystallography
• Bio-Molecular Packing in Crystals
• Symmetry operators
• Space Groups
• Bio-Macromlecular Crystallization
• Scattering/Diffraction of X-Rays
• Bragg's Law
• Reciprocal Space
• Data Collection/Data Processing
• Space Group Determination
• Phasing
• Model Building
• Refinement
• Structure Analysis and Validation

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding of the basic principles involved in solving structures by X-ray crystallography
2. Critically assess the quality of a structure in a publication or in the PDB.
3. Critically assess the validity of the conclusions drawn by authors of a structural paper.
4. Explain what a PDB file is telling them.