HFIR-SNS Advanced Neutron Diffraction and Scattering 2019 Workshop (HANDS2019)

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop will educate, train and enable a new and diverse generation of researchers for the use of neutrons with state-of-the-art instrumentation and software as applied biological problems. The use of neutrons offers excellent potential to provide previously elusive information about complex biological systems unobtainable with other measurement tools. The workshop is specifically designed for structural biologists and biophysicist. The topics will cover a broad length and time scales relevant to structural biology. One day symposium of talks by leading scientists will be followed by four days of hands on experimentation using neutron beam lines. The organizers will recruit female and members of underrepresented groups to broaden the user base for the use of neutrons in biological research for the future generation of scientists. Recent development of high intensity neutron sources and novel instrumentation will enable to address many of challenges in understanding complex biological systems and to integrate this information with other experimental techniques like cryo-EM, NMR and single molecule fluorescence techniques. A particularly desirable property of neutrons for biology has to do with hydrogen (H), the most abundant element in biological systems. With just one electron, hydrogen is all but invisible to x-rays or light. Neutrons, on the other hand, interact with nuclei, and protons have a relatively strong and negative scattering length. Furthermore, different sensitivity of neutrons to hydrogen and deuterium allows for enhanced visibility of specific parts of complex biological systems through isotopic substitution. This workshop will educate participants in state-of-the-art neutron scattering techniques, instrumentation, data analysis and interpretation while exposing the participants to actual experiments. Techniques included will cover a broad range of time and length scales encountered in structural biology (from atoms to cells) rather than focusing on a single type of experimentation. This workshop is funded by the Molecular Biophysics Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences in the Biological Sciences Directorate. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.