Microgravity

This computer graphic depicts the relative complexity of crystallizing large proteins in order to study their structures through x-ray crystallography. Insulin is a vital protein whose structure has several subtle points that scientists are still trying to determine. Large molecules such as insuline are complex with structures that are comparatively difficult to understand. For comparison, a sugar molecule (which many people have grown as hard crystals in science glass) and a water molecule are shown. These images were produced with the Macmolecule program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)