Chemistry
Basic Principles of X-ray Crystallography for Structure Determination
Quick fact
The first protein structure solved by X-ray crystallography was myoglobin in 1958, earning John Kendrew the Nobel Prize. Today, the method has determined over 150,000 molecular structures.
Why this is interesting
How can we 'see' individual atoms, which are far smaller than any microscope? X-ray crystallography uses the way atoms scatter X-rays to create a pattern that holds the secret to their arrangement.