
The Compact Dynamic Beamstop developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and licensed exclusively by MiTeGen, LLC enhances protein crystallography research that supports development of treatments for diseases such as cancer, AIDS, Ebola, tuberculosis.
In protein crystallography research, scientists use intense X-rays to extract structural and biological information at the atomic scale from crystallized protein samples. Researchers Diane Bryant and Simon Morton at the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology at LBNL, developed the Compact Dynamic Beamstop, a device small enough to ensure X-rays emitted from a protein sample are not blocked, enabling collection of the maximum amount of biochemical data. At less than one millimeter in diameter, the LBNL beamstop is significantly smaller than similar instruments on the market. In addition, the Compact Dynamic Beamstop, constructed of X-ray blocking material, prevents incoming X-ray beams from directly striking the detector, avoiding damage costing millions of collars to repair. No other instruments on the market combine these key features – capturing the damaging portion of X-ray beams while simultaneously monitoring their intensity – in a miniaturized form.
The technology attracted interest from beamline instrument companies and won a 2016 R&D 100 Award. The Compact Diode Beamstop was licensed exclusively to MiTeGen, a New York-based company providing tools for X-ray diffraction, crystallography, and protein crystallization to industrial, pharmaceutical, and academic researchers worldwide. In less than a year, MiTeGen launched the Sentinel™ Real-time Intensity Monitoring Beamstop System based on the LBNL diode beamstop technology.