X-ray Diffraction

X-ray Diffraction :-

1. X-ray diffraction (or X-ray crystallography) is a good technique to determine the three dimensional positions of the atoms in the molecule like proteins & nucleic acid
2. X-ray diffraction technique is based on the diffraction of radiations when they enter small obstacles
3. In  first few decades the use of this method determined the size of atoms, the lengths and types of chemical bonds
4. Crystal structures of proteins (which are irregular and hundreds of times larger than cholesterol) began to be solved in the late 1950s, beginning with the structure of sperm whale myoglobin by Sir John Cowdery Kendrew
5. X-ray diffraction is one of the most important tools in the molecular biology & ultrastructure & this permits biologists to determine the orientation of molecules & to recognize atomic organization
6. For X-ray diffraction analysis , a crystal like that of protein is bombarded with the fine beam of X-ray
7. The radiation that is scattered by the electrons of the protein’s atom strikes an electron-sensitive plate placed behind the crystal
8. The diffraction pattern produced by the crystal is determined by the structure within the protein
9. Myoglobin was the first protein whose structure was determined by X-ray diffraction
10. X-ray diffraction technique has also been used in the determination of DNA double helical structure by Watson & Crick in 1953