Seminars Archive

Automation of structural methods: dealing with low signal content

Abstract
Two cases of automation of experiments in structural (bio-)chemistry are presented, where the problem of the low signal content of the obtained data was overcome using image processing techniques. In the development of a polymorph screening method using powder diffraction, miniaturisation led to a lower signal content. The experimental setup and data processing algorithms are described and the automatic assignment of different structures of is shown. Automation of three dimensional reconstruction of single particles from noisy cryo-electron microscopy images requires methods for particle picking. A computer program, Cyclops, that provides three different algorithms is described. Results on data of symmetrical and asymmetrical particles are presented.