Our Clients

Forty-four groups at the UMN and the Mayo Clinic that require the high throughput, low sample volume, crystallization facility described in this proposal have already been identified. The projects outlined target such diverse public health problems as Alzheimer’s disease, bioterrorism, bacterial pathogens, blood clotting, bone development, calcium homostasis, cancer, chronic pain, contraception, diabetes, hemochromatosis, HIV, Huntington disease, mitochondrial disorders, muscular dystrophy, obesity, oxalate stones and SARS. Before our facility became available, researches at the UMN principally set up hundreds of crystallization trays manually with microliter drops (see below) and sat before microscopes to score results, often recording with haphazard frequency or logging conditions containing only well-formed crystals.The Rigaku CrystalMation systems for crystallization will lead to increased throughput required by a larger number of interested UMN and Mayo researchers seeking to save tme and effort. In addition the robot has the ability to set up more crystallization experiments using smaller amounts of priceless protein than is possible by manual methods.