by Peter Nollert
January 7, 2010 03:35
Guess what - in my opinion there was not a single paper published in 2009, covering the topic of protein crystallization review-style, that comes close to Naomi & Emmanuel's collected wisdom published in 2008:
As much as I prefer open-source publications, this is one of the best. Nature Methods, Vol. 5 No.2, February 2008. Naomi Chayen and Emmanuel Saridakis.
Why?
Because it covers all the basics: Setting up initial protein crystallization trials and classical screening methods, deals with the question how many trials should be set up, what ideal volumes are and what to do if protein crystallization trials fail. In addition, Naomi Chayen and Emmanuel Saridakis lucidly explain the choices of available crytallization formats and go into a fairly detailed description of practical ways to influence the crystallization process to grow protien crystals that are sufficient for X-ray diffraction . Protein crysallization optimization is explained in a hands-on fashion, extensively referencing the body of published literature. A joy to read.
I've saved this paper in my archive using the file name Naomis_bible_paper.pdf
Happy new 2010!
Peter