A beamline that runs experiments by itself

MASSIF-1 [Bowler et al. (2015). J. Synchrotron Rad. 22, doi:10.1107/S1600577515016604] is a beamline for the fully automatic characterisation and data collection from macromolecular crystals. The beamline has been open since September 2014 and to date has processed 10,000 samples. The service offered provides a new tool for structural biologists to screen initial crystallisation hits or collect large numbers of data sets without having to control the end station themselves. The automatic routines available allow data collection to be performed consistently, taking crystal size and flux into account when calculating data collection strategies. Flexibility is introduced into the system by allowing sample specific parameters to be specified in the database ISPyB. Whilst measurements are currently limited to variations around classic experiments, it is hoped that more complex strategies such as helical data collections and goniometer realignment can be included soon. It is also foreseen to include dehydration experiments in the automated pipeline.

The new level of automation should decrease project lifecycles and in partnership with development being made in the automatic mounting of crystals, a fully automatic pipeline from protein to structure can now be envisioned.