Effects of a Magnetic Field on the Process of Protein Crystal Growth

Abstract

High quality of protein crystals is very important to determine the molecular structure of protein by X-ray diffraction analysis. The effect of a magnetic field on the protein crystal growth is quite a new research field. Topics for protein crystallization in magnetic fields are reviewed, including making the low-gravity environment on the earth, the formation of protein crystals in low-gravity, the improvement of crystal quality, the magnetic orientation of protein crystals, damping of natural convection caused by Lorentz force etc. Judging from these researches, magnetic fields are suitable for the protein crystallization.