Growing Better Protein Crystals in Orbit

ISS010-E-24980 (April 18, 2005) ---Cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev is holding a sample tube as part of the Commercial Protein Crystallization Factory-2 (CPCF-2) investigation, an early iteration of a crystallization facility aboard the International Space Station. Protein crystals grown in space are more uniform and larger than those grown on Earth. Improved crystal structures enable researchers to more accurately determine protein structures and derive new medicines.