SYDNEY, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists on Wednesday said they have used what is being touted as the world's most powerful X-ray laser to construct 3-D models of biomolecules, pointing to a better understanding of diseases and drug development.
"This is a giant leap forward for molecular imaging and the result of one of the largest international collaborations in X-ray science," La Trobe University's Dr Brian Abbey, who worked with more than 120 scientists from 35 universities worldwide on the project, said in a statement.
The laser generates up to 27,000 X-ray shots per second in short bursts of more than 1 megahertz -- equivalent to one million shots per second -- to record super-fast images of molecular structure to build the models.
"Being able to collect more than 200 times more images per second than before will be a massive boost to researchers trying to create real-time molecular movies. Actually seeing molecules in motion provides us with new insights into how they function and has enormous potential benefits for many areas of science," said Abbey.
The study's findings were published in the Nature Communications scientific journal.
"This is innovative science and arguably the biggest science project in the world right now," said the university's Professor Keith Nugent, who was also involved in the project.
