New sources and instrumentation for neutrons in biology

Abstract

Neutron radiation offers significant advantages for the study of biological molecular structure and dynamics. A broad and significant effort towards instrumental and methodological development to facilitate biology experiments at neutron sources worldwide is reviewed.

Neutron scattering perspectives for protein dynamics

“…Several instruments are now available at neutron scattering centres across the world, where the proposed experiments can be performed [40]. Concerning correlation of dynamics with biological function and activity, back-scattering instruments or their equivalents with energy resolution of 1 to 10 μeV and as large a Q range as possible are the most suitable.…”

Neutron Optical Beam Splitter from Holographically Structured Nanoparticle-Polymer Composites

“…Therefore, cold neutrons offer a fair tradeoff between flux and magnitude of the neutron-optical potential. Moreover, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) beam lines are workhorses at neutron facilities due to the interdisciplinary interests of biologists or medical scientists when exploring complex large-scale soft matter; see, e.g., [7]. A few attempts have been conducted to manufacture diffractive elements for cold neutrons.…”

Neutrons for biologists: a beginner's guide, or why you should consider using neutrons

“…Neutron sources are either nuclear reactors or spallation sources (in which neutrons are produced by hitting a target with high energy protons; Teixeira et al 2008). In both cases the neutrons initially have much higher velocities and, thus, wavelengths shorter than the relevant distances to be measured in biological samples.…”

“…Measurements can even be carried out on whole cells or organelles (Tehei et al 2007;Jasnin et al 2008). There is a range of instruments, such as time-of-flight, backscattering spectrometers and neutron spin-echo instruments, which can investigate dynamics and which have been described recently (Teixeira et al 2008).…”