What technologies can solve the problem of membrane protein crystallization?
One great strategy to tackle difficulties in membrane protein crystallization is our bicelle-protein crystallization technique. Bicelles are small bilayer disks formed in lipid/amphiphile mixtures, into which membrane proteins can be incorporated. At low temperature, bicelle-forming lipid/amphiphile mixtures are not viscous, but they tend to develop a gel-like consistency at higher temperatures. Thus, with bicelle forming lipid/amphiphile mixtures it is possible to access a variety of lipid bilayer structures simply by varying temperature.