Neutrons and X-rays meet biology

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie

Wednesday, 25 to Friday, 27 February 2009

Modern biology vastly benefits from the utilization of neutrons and X-rays. Both probes are typically provided by large scale facilities which are open to a world-wide scientific community.

The workshop addresses the structure-function relationships as well as the dynamics in biological systems and aims at bringing together experts in the fields of neutron and X-ray techniques as well as specialists in biomodelling and biochemical characterization. The workshop will give an up-to-date account of the results obtained by both neutron and X-ray scattering as well as combinations of the two techniques, and it will demonstrate that the combination of neutron and X-ray scattering will deeply broaden our knowledge on the structural and dynamical properties of biological systems. The workshop will offer opportunities to initiate and/or intensify collaborations between experimental and theoretical scientists working in various areas of biology.

Lectures will address the large scale and three dimensional crystallographic structures of bio-molecules and larger assemblies, their dynamics and their modeling. Substantial time will also be spent discussing on biological assemblies in extreme conditions, as well as microscopy and tomography with neutrons and X-rays. The facilities of BENSC and BESSY will be visited. To stimulate discussions and to further support scientific exchange, the posters will be displayed for the entire duration of the workshop.

Workshop Chairs:

Marie-Claire Bellissent-Funel

Uwe Müller

Roland Steitz