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Article: Crystal Growth
- Article from:
- Space Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Crystal Growth
Among the most productive areas of space-based research have been the investigations into growing protein crystals. Proteins are complex biological molecules in all living things, critical for a variety of functions, such as transporting oxygen and chemicals in the blood, forming the major components of muscle and skin, and fighting diseases. Research efforts are focused on understanding the structure of individual proteins, how the structure affects the protein's function, and the design of drugs to interfere with or enhance the
protein's function. The human body alone contains more than 100,000 proteins. Scientists, however, know the structure of only about 1 percent ...