A protein structure obtained at Beamline 2.0.1 (“Gemini”) at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) has recently been published in the literature and deposited into the Protein Data Bank—two significant firsts for this beamline. The structure helped provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in triggering certain inflammatory diseases. This milestone, which utilized Gemini’s capacity to target crystals smaller than 20 microns, was almost a decade in the making. Simon Morton, now a semi-retired staff scientist at ALS, and Corie Ralston, facility director at the Molecular Foundry and a staff scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division (MBIB), helped bring the microfocus beamline to the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology (BCSB) in 2014. Beamline operations are now led by Marc Allaire, a biophysicist staff scientist in MBIB and head of the BCSB.

Read More in the ALS News Feature.