• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Science with light Research at the Paul Scherrer Institute Starting an experiment at the Swiss Light Source SLS. Contents 4 Science with light in 90 seconds 18 Industry and innovation 18 Investing in innovation 6 Structures of life 18 Solving industry problems 18 Developing new technologies 6 Repair signals 19 Spin-off companies 7 Losing sight at night 7 Nobel prize 20 Inside the Swiss Light Source SLS 8 Human health 22 Matter and light 8 Brain science 22 Atoms are everywhere 8 Tip-top teeth 23 Light is everywhere 23 Experiments with light 10 Materials science and engineering 24 The extraordinary light of the 10 Carbon fibres Swiss Light Source SLS 10 Fire safety 25 Super-fast electrons 11 World-beating silicon chips 25 Electrons and light 25 Brighter and brighter 12 Manipulating magnetism 12 A single atom data store 26 SwissFEL, the Swiss X-ray 13 Switching magnets with light 13 Magnetic hexagons free-electron laser at PSI 26 What is an X-ray free-electron laser? 26 At the frontiers of science 14 Quantum materials 26 Worldwide collaboration 14 Observing orbitons 27 Diamond technology 15 Secrets of superconductors 28 We make it work 16 Energy and environment 16 Natural gas from wood 31 PSI in brief 17 Better batteries 17 Painting ships 1 3 Imprint 31 Contacts Cover photo Extremely bright X-ray and ultraviolet light beams enable researchers at the Swiss Light Source SLS to understand structures of materials at a scale one million times smaller than a grain of sand. Scientists can discern how atoms and molecules are con- nected and how these connections change in real time. 3 Science with light in 90 seconds The Swiss Light Source SLS at the Paul tute, and every year over 2500 scien- Scherrer Institute PSI is a super-micro- tists travel to PSI from Switzerland and scope that can reveal features a million around the world to use its world-lead- times smaller than a grain of sand. ing large scientific research facilities. The SLS makes super-bright, pin-point The institute is also home to two other sharp beams of X-rays and ultraviolet large research facilities: the Swiss Spal- light. They are used to learn how the lation Neutron Source SINQ and the outer appearance and behaviour of Swiss Muon Source SμS. objects is linked to what is inside. They can reveal how atoms and molecules inside an object are joined together Innovation and discovery and what they are doing. Experiments at the Swiss Light Source SLS are essential for advancing science X-rays have been used for over 100 years and solving problems in industry. They in medicine to see inside the human are helping to address contemporary body. They are routinely used by doctors issues in medicine, energy supply, the and dentists to identify broken bones, environment, and materials for new image tumours and check-up on the technology. health of teeth. At SwissFEL, ultrashort pulses of la- But for research at the forefront of sci- ser-like X-ray light will allow completely ence and engineering, a hospital X-ray new types of experiments in biology, machine is not powerful enough — a chemistry, physics and materials sci- much more advanced machine is ence to be performed. needed. This is why the Swiss Light Working together, the Swiss Light Source SLS was built. Source SLS and SwissFEL will ensure The beams of X-rays made by the Swiss Swiss science and engineering contin- Light Source SLS are a billion times ues to be at the leading edge of inno- brighter than those produced by a hos- vation and discovery for many years to pital X-ray machine and have other come. unique qualities. This means that thou- You can read more about PSI research sands of very precise and highly de- using super-bright beams of X-ray light tailed measurements can be made in and ultraviolet light in the following just a few seconds. pages. A new X-ray light source started oper- ating at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in 2016. The SwissFEL X-ray free-elec- tron laser is complementary to the Swiss Light Source SLS and will allow investigations into extremely fast pro- cesses to become routine. PSI is Switzerland’s largest natural and engineering sciences research insti- 4 The comforts and convenience of modern life would be impossible without many decades of research into new materials. 5 Structures of life Modern medicine has discovered that an incredible world of molecular activ- ity lies at the centre of life – making cells, destroying infections and repair- ing damage. Despite enormous ad- vances, there is still much more to be learnt in the fight against disease. Repair signals X-ray studies at the Swiss Light Source SLS are enabling drugs to be designed to repair defective blood vessels or to limit the growth of tumours. A cut on the finger damages blood vessels and reduces the oxygen supply to surrounding tissue. Cells around the cut make a call for help by releasing a signalling molecule called a growth factor. The growth factor spreads through the tissue away from the cut causing other cells to spring into action and make new cells and blood vessels to repair the damage. There are many types of growth factors, each highly specialised for growing cells of a particular type, for example, for skin, for nerve cells, or for blood or lymph vessels. Each growth factor molecule has to align with a particular receptor mole- cule present on a target cell surface in order to activate it and start making new cells. This requires the molecular only be made with the state-of-the-art With this knowledge, a new generation structures of the growth factor and the X-ray instruments available at the Swiss of drugs can be developed to limit tu- receptor, each made up from thou- Light Source SLS. mour growth in the body by blocking sands of atoms, to be correctly posi- Recent experiments have determined the activity of specific growth factors tioned and oriented. the exact structure of a growth factor involved in vessel building to cut off Mapping and analysing these incredi- and receptor responsible for the growth the blood supply. bly complex molecular structures can and repair of blood and lymph vessels. 6 Losing sight at night Nobel prize Night vision relies on a light-sensitive Venkatraman Ramakrishnan from the molecule in the retina of the eye called MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology rhodopsin. Research at PSI is learning in Cambridge, UK was one of the win- how genetic defects affect rhodopsin ners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chem- and cause conditions such as congen- istry. The prize was awarded for deter- ital night blindness. mining the structure of the ribosome, one of the largest and most important Rhodopsin is a protein molecule that molecules in the cell. Some of the data is extremely sensitive to light and is used to achieve this was collected at used for seeing in the dark. Rhodopsin the state-of-the-art X-ray instruments belongs to a large family of proteins available at the Swiss Light Source known as G protein-coupled receptors. SLS. These molecules are found in the mem- brane wall surrounding a cell and their Ribosomes are complex, bead-like purpose is to sense changes outside structures, which exist in multiple cop- the cell and pass a signal to the inside ies in each cell. The ribosome trans- of the cell. When light hits rhodopsin, lates genetic information, producing it changes shape and triggers a cascade tens of thousands of different proteins of signals that pass to the brain. that in turn control the activity of living Using the Swiss Light Source SLS, PSI organisms. researchers have been able to capture To solve the structure, the position of pictures of rhodopsin in its extremely each and every one of the hundreds of short-lived light-activated state. They thousands of atoms that make up a now have a precise picture of the first ribosome was identified. It is one of the step in the process of seeing. most complex atomic-resolution maps From the experiments, it has been that has been made. The structure of a ribosome, one of the most important molecules in an found that night blindness is directly The experiments have been crucial for organism. The scientist Venkatraman linked to a defect in the structure of understanding how the ribosome works Ramakrishnan and his research rhodopsin. The defect causes rhodop- and the differences between bacterial group have determined the position sin to be constantly activated, even and human ribosomes. of several hundred thousand atoms when it is not receiving light. The visual There is also a practical use: many in this gigantic molecule. The system becomes desensitised, as it modern antibiotics work by blocking experiments conducted within this endeavour were performed at tries to ignore the sense of seeing a the activity of bacterial ribosomes with- the Swiss Light Source SLS and other constant low light. out affecting human ones. Infections light sources. They finally earned Understanding the molecular cause of are cured by selectively killing or inhib- Ramakrishnan – along with two the condition opens the way for pre- iting bacteria. other researchers – the Nobel Prize cisely targeted medicines. Although this in Chemistry in 2009. approach would not cure night blind- ness, it could prevent progression of a related condition, retinitis pigmentosa, towards severe loss of daytime sight. 7 Human health Novel imaging techniques developed one knows what causes multiple scle- Tooth enamel is the hardest substance at the Swiss Light Source SLS reveal rosis.

Load more

  32

Copy Link