Saskatoon scientists at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) have achieved a milestone by solving one thousand protein structures with data collected at its synchrotron.
A synchrotron is a source of bright light used to examine matter too small to be observed by microscopes.
By using X-rays to map cells, researchers are capable of drawing conclusions about diseases and ways to combat them.
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Their work leads to more effective drugs and vaccines.
“This is the part where you get the blueprints, but more like architectural design of the house,” said Mirek Cygler, a University of Saskatchewan professor and the Canada research chair in molecular medicine using synchrotron light.
“Now you can look at it and say ‘OK here is the place I want to go and do something.'”
Researchers are also celebrating 500 published scientific papers based on CLS research.
The CLS opened in 2004 – one of the largest science projects in Canadian history and the country’s only synchrotron.
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