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Macromolecular X‐ray crystallography: soon to be a road less travelled?
Author(s) -
Beale John H.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section d
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.374
H-Index - 138
ISSN - 2059-7983
DOI - 10.1107/s2059798320004660
Subject(s) - dominance (genetics) , structural biology , protein data bank , life expectancy , crystallography , protein structure , chemistry , sociology , demography , biochemistry , gene , population
The number of new X‐ray crystallography‐based submissions to the Protein Data Bank appears to be at the beginning of a decline, perhaps signalling an end to the era of the dominance of X‐ray crystallography within structural biology. This letter, from the viewpoint of a young structural biologist, applies the Copernican method to the life expectancy of crystallography and asks whether the technique is still the mainstay of structural biology. A study of the rate of Protein Data Bank depositions allows a more nuanced analysis of the fortunes of macromolecular X‐ray crystallography and shows that cryo‐electron microscopy might now be outcompeting crystallography for new labour and talent, perhaps heralding a change in the landscape of the field.