X-ray Laser Reveals How Bacterial Protein Morphs In Response To Light

Updated 8.13.15, 5:23 PM EDT by Christine Doan

This experiment marks the first time LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) has been used to directly observe a protein's structural change as it happens
In the LCLS experiment, researchers prepared crystallized samples of the protein, and exposed the crystals, each about 2 millionths of a meter long, to blue laser light before jetting them into the LCLS X-ray beam
Researchers compared the structures of the proteins that had been exposed to light to those that had not to identify light-induced structural changes.

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