3 ms·
You just need a crystallographer with a beard in the lab (https://improbable.com/2011/02/09/legend-of-chrystallographers-beards/ https://improbable.com/2011/02/
by dekhn 3y ago
You just need a crystallographer with a beard in the lab (https://improbable.com/2011/02/09/legend-of-chrystallographers-beards/ https://improbable.com/2011/02/09/legend-of-chrystallographe... https://www.science.org/content/article/pure-stupid-luck https://www.science.org/content/article/pure-stupid-luck
https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/czochralskis-pulley/3008680.article https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/czochralskis-pulley/3...).
More seriously: this was pretty much solved already through improved techniques. I'm generally of the opinion that if you have to send a molecule to space to crystallize it better, you should probably spend your money on other, more terrestrial approaches. I do credit Varda for doing this automatically, rather than on ISS, because launch costs for autonomous vehicles are much more affordable than human space flight.
- cyberax 3y agoIt's actually still not solved, you can't grow large ritonavir crystals on Earth. Ritonavir used as a drug works around the issue. It's produced as dispersed molten droplets inside a matrix of inactive material. Its heated above the melting temperature of ritonavir, so it prevents contamination.