Defect Structure of Macromolecular Crystals

Disorder in macromolecular crystals arises from several sources. Among the most important are thermal motion and the inherent mobility of the molecules. These cause statistical misalignment about mean lattice points and structural heterogeneity of the molecules. Defects in the crystal lattice, however, could also significantly affect the resolution and quality of diffraction data collected from some crystals. There is a considerable diversity in...