Imaging and Nanocrystallography of Biological Objects with X-Ray Free-Electron Laser

he x-ray pulses from free-electron lasers are so intense and brief that it is possible to record high-resolution structural information from biological objects before the onset of radiation damage. This "diffraction before destruction" concept has allowed us to obtain images of viruses and atomic-resolution structures of macromolecules from samples too small for conventional synchrotron studies.