July 5th blog

We started our day in the lab looking at the phycocyanin protein crystals we prepared by vapor diffusion last tuesday. The crystals formed well after two days and in large numbers. The phycocyanin crystals were in deep blue color due to its (phycocyanin's) antennaes that allows it to capture green light. Its shape varies in shape and sizes. Although the shapes and sizes are different, the unit cell according to Raimund Fromme is still the same. Tomorrow, we will try to work on the diffraction of these crystals. On the second half of the day, we went to the x-ray lab and worked on the x-ray diffraction of the lysozyme protein that we prepared. Raimund Fromme showed us how to "fish" for crystals using the tiniest hook I have ever seen, in which case is only possible with the use of a powerful dissecting microscope. We attempted to work on two crystals, one of which has a beautiful diamond shape, which as it turned out, the beauty of crystal has nothing to do with the diffraction. We tried to work on another crystal and this time we were able to get a. diffraction. Tomorrow, we will work on more diffraction of crystals and this time we get to "fish" for our own crystals from our preparation.:)