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Calendar
of events
Rigaku will be attending the following conferences in
the coming months:
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ACS
(American Chemical Society) Fall National Meeting, Philadelphia,
PA, August 17-21
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IUCr
(International Union of Crystallography), Osaka, Japan, August
23-31
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15th
CCP4 Northern Protein Structure Workshop,
Carlisle, England, September 3-5
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1st
SIMP/AIC meeting, Sestri
Levante, Italy, September 7-12
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ISGO
(International Conference on Structural Genomics-Oxford),
Oxford, England, September 20-24
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Centre for
Structural Biology - Open Day, Imperial College, London,
September 23
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HEC
(Heart of Europe Bio-Crystallography Meeting), Greifswald,
Germany, September 25-27
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The
4th Conference of The Hellenic Crystallographic Association,
Athens, Greece, September 26-27
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Int.
Conference on Inorganic Materials,
Dresden, Germany, September 28-30
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GSA
(Geological Society of America), Houston, TX, October 5-9
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MS&T
(Materials Science and Technology), Pittsburgh, PA, October 5-9
- Gulf
Coast Conference,
Galveston, TX, October 14-15
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66th
Pittsburgh Diffraction Conference,
Pittsburgh, PA, October 30-November 1
Full listing of conferences
Rigaku will attend in 2008
Training
sessions
Rigaku is pleased to announce the
following training sessions in 2008: All
classes are held at Rigaku's applications laboratory in The Woodlands,
TX. 
»
Click here for more information
Rigaku
Automation news
Rigaku Automation celebrated the sale of the 20th Alchemist II in June, just over 18 months after the product was launched. Purchase by a
leading biotech company in California, the sale
represented a milestone of industry acceptance in the crowded and highly
competitive liquid handling market.
The Alchemist II is a unique
liquid handling system designed for the easy, accurate and rapid production
of complex liquid formulations produced from individual stock solutions of
various chemical and liquid properties. It was developed in response to difficulties associated
with conventional liquid handling systems, including: waste,
cross-contamination and dispensing accuracy.
The Alchemist II employs patented Seal-tight BirdFeeder™ technology,
minimizing chemical evaporation and allowing for simple stock solution
management. With a single, dedicated syringe for each and every stock
solution, there can be no cross-contamination. In addition, the Alchemist II
does not utilize pumps or tubing, thereby eliminating priming or cleaning
and the waste traditionally associated with the production of liquid
formulations.
» Learn more
Carl Brändén Award of
the Protein Society
Paul Swepston
presented
the Carl
Brändén Award of the Protein Society to
Howard Schachman of UC Berkeley on July 19. During the presentation,
Swepston said, "I am in complete awe of
this man and am so honored to be able to present him with this award
and I am so happy that he won it."
The Carl
Brändén
Award was established to honor an
exceptional man who was an outstanding protein scientist as well a
person who made exceptional contributions in the area of education
and service to science. Rigaku is proud to be the sponsor of this
award and to be able to help recognize outstanding members of the
protein community.
Schachman wrote a review article of his career in the
year 2000 entitled: Still Looking for the Ivory
Tower in Annual Review of Biochemistry (2000). 69: 1-29.
In it, he talks about taking a summer
course in organic chemistry from a young Robert Woodward at Harvard,
subletting an apartment one summer from Arthur Kornburg, driving
Albert Einstein around Princeton, and asking Robert Oppenheimer if
he could borrow his auditorium.
In presenting the award, Swepston continued, in
part:
A few traits really stand out when you review his
career: personal courage, a well honed ethical compass,
determination in the face of opposition, a will towards discovery,
and a desire to improve human understanding.
At the beginning of the McCarthy
period, he fought a new university policy concerning loyalty oaths.
As a young faculty member, this took a lot of personal courage as he
had no idea what impact it would have on his career.
Howard still teaches a class
entitled Responsible Conduct of Research which deals with the
ethical issues of doing research. Reading the description of the
course makes one realize how important it is that someone with his
background and moral compass is imparting a sense of values on the
scientists and administrators of the future.
Outstanding Academic Career: B.S. Chemical Engineering, MIT 1939
PhD Physical
Chemistry, Princeton 1948 Joined Faculty of Berkeley in 1948 and
been there ever since. His CV lists 38 awards and honors.
It is also worth noting that the Howard K. Schachman
Public Service Award was established by the American Society of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and he won the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility
Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS). When he was
told he had to retire 20 years ago he fought it. Why should someone
with so much to give arbitrarily be told they have to stop giving?
Howard continues to live a life that most of us can only hope for:
being creative, contributing to society, and making an impact on
future generations. » Click here for more
C&E News cover
The cover artwork for the July 21, 2008
issue (Volume 86, Number 29) was produced by Rigaku Americas Corporation's
graphic artist, Dayva Gebhart.
The cover story is about the current state of
fragment-based lead discovery.
» Click here
for more
What
are our customers saying? The recent upgrade of optics from Blues to
VariMax HF has been a great
success. Alignment of optics is easier and sample exposure times across
many projects has been cut in half, often with improvements in the final
resolution of the data. Dr John Barker
Evotec (UK) Ltd »
Click here
for more
Structure
of the month Our
customers have shown that the Bro1 domain of ALIX binds specifically to
C-terminal residues of the human CHMP4 proteins and, using both
synchrotron and in-lab X-ray diffraction sources, we determined the
crystal structures of the ALIX(Bro1) domain in complex with CHMP4
C-terminal peptides (CHMP4A-C). »
Read
more
What's
new?
What's new at
www.Rigaku.com:
Take our
survey to express your opinion about the Rigaku web site
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New CEO
announced for Rigaku Americas Corporation
 On June 30, 2008, Rigaku Americas Corporation (RAC) announced that Mr. Wes Hardenburg, the
company's Chief Financial Officer since 2000, had succeeded Dr. Paul Swepston as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Swepston, who
joined the company in 1996, continues in a strategic capacity within the company and serves as Senior Advisor to the
CEO of Rigaku Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). Mr. Hardenburg joined the company through the acquisition of Osmic, Inc. in
1999.
Mr. Hikaru Shimura, RAC Chairman, said of Dr. Swepston, "Paul has been an exceptional CEO whose courage and
leadership has transformed the company from its beginning, when he first joined as President of Molecular Structure
Corporation (MSC), into the thriving global business that RAC has become
today." He continued, "Paul will continue to prosper and contribute to the global organization of Rigaku and his new responsibilities will continue to shape
our future." Mr. Hardenburg elaborated that "Paul has been a very effective CEO who has greatly impacted the
company through his passion and leadership. RAC is a great company with a strong history and an exciting future. I
am much honored to have been chosen as its next CEO."
Rigaku
at the IUCr in Osaka
The 21st annual International Union of
Crystallography (IUCr) meeting is in beautiful Osaka,
Japan August 23-31, 2008. We look forward to seeing our old friends
and making new ones in Osaka. Please stop by the Rigaku booth, C-01,
to see the latest in crystallographic hardware and software. Rigaku
will have a large exhibit showcasing the latest in instrumentation
to assist you with your research—from small molecule to protein
crystallography, from liquid handling to crystal imaging and from
general purpose XRD to SAXS applications.
New for protein crystallography
On the protein crystallography side we will have the new Saturn
A200 large aperture CCD detector, the high speed R-AXIS HTC
imaging plate detector, the powerful dual-wavelength FR-E+
SuperBright™ generator with VariMax™
X-ray optics, the easy-to-use Alchemist™
II screen maker and the
Desktop
Minstrel™ UV (ultraviolet) crystallization plate imaging
system.
New
for XRD and chemical crystallography
For small molecule crystallography we will have on display new
products, along with the versatile RAPID
II curved imaging plate detector system.
General purpose XRD
systems will also be displayed including the SmartLab®,
Ultima
IV, and benchtop MiniFlex™
II.
Demos and
presentations
Rigaku employees will be glad
to show you around, discuss your applications, and answer any
questions you might have about our hardware or software products. During the evening exhibit sessions the Alchemist II will display
its versatility in liquid handling by serving up its famous
Alchetini cocktails!
Rigaku will hold several "Lunch and Learn"
seminars at IUCr this year featuring presentations by Angela
Criswell, Craig Sterling, Lee Daniels and Kazuhiko Omote (see
details below). Everyone is welcome! Rigaku will also be
presenting in the main scientific program at IUCr including talks on
phasing with chromium in the home lab, a poster on using cobalt
radiation for phasing protein crystals, and several posters on
powder diffraction.
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Date
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Time
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Authors
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Title
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Location
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Sunday,
August 24 |
12:45–13:30
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Angela Criswell
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How to build bridges and focus into your structure
solution pipeline with new tools for protein crystallography
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E-1009
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Monday,
August 25
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12:45–13:30
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Craig Sterling
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CrystalMation: High-throughput protein crystallization from automated experiment preparation to protein crystal detection with UV
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E-1009
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Tuesday,
August 26
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12:45–13:30
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Lee Daniels
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Small molecule crystallography: The intelligence behind the design of modern Rigaku systems
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C-1001,2
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Wednesday,
August 27
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12:45–13:30
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Kazuhiko Omote
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Challenges in the characterization of surface nano-structures by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction/scattering using laboratory source based diffractometers
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E-1009
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Wednesday,
August 27
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11:30-12:00
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Cheng Yang, Aiping Dong, Yan Liu, Elena Evdokimova, Xiaohui Xu,
Tatiana Skarina, James Pflugrath and Joseph Ferrara
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Sulfur-SAD phasing becomes a routine approach to solve de novo structures
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F-12CH (MS 44)
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Posters
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Sunday & Monday, August 24-25
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12:30–14:45
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Tomokazu Hasegawa and Akihito Yamano
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Sulphur SAD (S-SAD) phasing using CoKα Radiation
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91703
P02.04.10
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Tuesday &
Wednesday,
August 26-27
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12:30–14:45
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Angela Criswell
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Bridging the gaps in high
throughput crystallography: upstream and downstream developments for
ACTOR
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91945
P04.22.431
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Thursday & Friday, August 28-29
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12:30–14:45
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Joseph Ferrara
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A New Optic for Macromolecular Crystallography |
91708
P01.01.02
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Akihito Yamano
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A Hyperquenching Tool
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91978
P01.12.75
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Takeyoshi Taguchi
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Noble pixel detector for in-house XRD applications
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91764 P01.10.70
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Ryouichi Yokoyama and Jinpei Harada
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Characterization of strain in cubic thin film with <hkl> fiber texture anisotropic stress state
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91475 P25.02.05
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Rigaku is the proven leader in the X-ray industry and continues to redefine the home lab with a tradition of excellence and commitment to superior product performance and customer support. Stop by the booth to learn how Rigaku products can make your job easier and your time more productive.
Rigaku Corporation
forms a new company in Europe
 Rigaku Corporation announced the formation of Rigaku Innovative Technologies Europe s.r.o. (RIT-E), on May 22, 2008,
as a European center of excellence for the design, development, and manufacture of X-ray optics, X-ray detectors and
X-ray sources as well as other related scientific products for industry and research. The new company includes three
of the leading researchers in the field of advanced X-ray optics in the Czech Republic, Dr. Ladislav Pína, Dr. René
Hudec, and Dr. Adolf Inneman, as well as a staff of their long-time associates.
Rigaku Innovative Technologies Europe s.r.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rigaku Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), will be
headquartered in fully-equipped, optimized facilities in Prague. Dr. Ladislav Pína and Dr. John McGill have been
appointed to be the Managing Directors of the company. Dr. McGill also retains his position as President and COO of
Rigaku Innovative Technologies, Inc. in Auburn Hills, MI, USA. The new company will complete a triad of Rigaku X-ray
equipment research and development (R&D) laboratories, now spanning the globe, with facilities in Japan, the United
States and Europe.
Commenting on the formation of Rigaku Innovative Technologies Europe s.r.o, Dr. Pína explained that
"we intend to continue the plethora of R&D and scientific collaborations–in the field of X-rays physics–that have been the
hallmark of our group–while developing an integrated commercial component of the business that contributes back to
society while returning value to the parent company." Dr. McGill added that
"the new company is both open to, and will actively pursue, collaborations–with both European government entities and global industrial partners–to
advance the state-of-the-art of our technology base for the benefit of all mankind in accordance with our corporate
mission."
Rigaku
Fun Run winners
On Monday June 2nd, the 23rd Annual
Rigaku Fun Run/Walk took place at the World Fair Park as part of the
ACA meeting. 
This year's winners were Cora Lind (below left) from University of
Toledo and Brandon
Collins from Boehringer Ingelheim.
Louise Dawe of Memorial University
wins poster prize at ACA meeting in Knoxville
Louise Dawe of Memorial University (St. Johns, Newfoundland) won the Journal of Chemical Crystallography poster prize at
the 2008
ACA meeting in Knoxville, for her poster "Long range magnetic cooperativity through extended structural motifs? Introducing intermolecular π-π interactions into
[3x3] Mn(II)9 and Cu(II)9 grids."
Louise received a one-year subscription to the
Journal of Chemical Crystallography and a $200 Springer book
voucher.
The work was done using the Saturn 70 CCD. Louise is a PhD candidate; her advisor is Prof. Laurie Thompson.
Rigaku
delivers 50th
ACTOR™
 Rigaku
Americas Corporation is pleased to announce the sale of the 50th
Rigaku ACTOR robotic protein crystal handling system to the Medical
Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge,
UK. The system was chosen by the MRC as an upgrade for their
in-house X-ray diffraction facilities and in support of
crystallographic studies carried out in the laboratory, which seek
to understand the structure, function and interactions of
biologically important molecules at the atomic, molecular and
supra-molecular level. A significant milestone for Rigaku, sale of
the 50th ACTOR will be marked by a special commemorative plaque
affixed to the exterior of the instrument. Dr. Andrew Leslie, Group
Leader for structural studies of macromolecular complexes within the
Division of Structural Studies, commented, "I'm personally
delighted that we are getting the 50th system, congratulations to
all concerned!"
Photo taken in front of the MRC ACTOR system after installation. Keith Tame
(Rigaku, left) with Andrew Leslie (MRC)
As the world's first commercial robotic system
for automated crystal sample mounting and storage, ACTOR eliminates
much of the physical handling of samples by crystallographers
required during routine screening and data collection either in the
lab or at the beamline. It is an automated system designed to store
frozen protein crystals, mount them sequentially, align them to the
X-ray beam, collect complete data sets, and return the crystals to
storage.
The ACTOR automated crystal mounting and data
collection technology was co-developed by Rigaku with Oceaneering
Space Systems (OSS), a division of Oceaneering International, Inc.,
under a license from Abbott® Laboratories for the purpose of
offering a commercial high-throughput crystallography automation
system. Astex™ Therapeutics Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) purchased the
first ACTOR system in 2001. In 2002, the Rigaku ACTOR was honored
with an R&D 100 Award for technical innovation. In 2005, Rigaku
introduced a version of robot for small molecule chemical
crystallography called the ACTOR SM.
The UK Medical Research Council is a publicly funded
organization dedicated to improving human health through world-class
medical research. To achieve this, it supports research across the
biomedical spectrum, from fundamental lab-based science to clinical
trials, and in all major disease areas. The MRC Laboratory of
Molecular Biology is recognized internationally for the excellence
of its research, and has major programs in structural biology
aimed at understanding biological processes at the molecular level. »
Click here for more information
Yale
University chooses Rigaku XRD instruments
 The Department of Chemistry at
Yale University has chosen two Rigaku X-ray
diffraction (XRD) instruments to form the
core of their new center for X-ray diffraction. Both the RAPID II
and SCXmini™ diffractometers will be
housed in a new facility within the Chemical Instrumentation Center at the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory. Funded internally by Yale University, the new center will both serve the extensive inter-departmental research needs
of the University and position Yale as a global leader in crystallographic education. Equipped with a
TEC-50 low
temperature system, the benchtop SCXmini X-ray diffractometer will be employed for both graduate level research and
undergraduate teaching, with "walk up" use available for graduate and post doctoral students. As the frontline
research instrument for chemical (small molecule) crystallography, the RAPID II XRD system—with its large-area
curved detector, X-stream™ 2000
low temperature system, rapid data collection and broad range of analytical
capabilities—will enable collaborations that span from powder diffraction and thin film characterization to
protein crystallography and art forensics.
 Commenting on the choice of Rigaku, Dr. Christopher Incarvito, Director of the
Chemical Instrumentation
Center,
explained, "It gives us the best of all worlds—more so than having two identical
instruments." Elaborating
on the synergy of having both a self-service, research-grade diffractometer (SCXmini) for routine student use along
with a versatile, high-performance research instrument (RAPID II), Dr. Incarvito added,
"This is actually a
significant advance over what we have now—more teaching and better collaboration with different departments and
outside universities." Dr. Incarvito concluded by saying that Yale is
"planning to (formally) dedicate
the facility upon arrival and installation of the equipment."
» Click here
for more information
Travel
bursary winners  Dr.
Rebecca (Philips) DuBois used a travel grant from Rigaku to attend the
"Virus Structure and Assembly" FASEB Research Conference
in Saxton's River, Vermont. "I chose this conference because I
believe there is great potential for the discovery of new antiviral
targets by understanding the molecular structures of viruses and
virus proteins."
Dr.
DuBois presented a poster featuring her postdoctoral research at the
Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, where she worked with Dr. Felix
Rey to solve the molecular structure of a protein from Rubella virus
by X-ray crystallography. She says the presentation "gave me
the chance to exchange ideas with leading scientists and meet
potential new collaborators." Dr.
Michelle Dunstan from the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University
in Clayton, Australia used her Rigaku travel grant to attend a
Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Toxins & Pathgenicity in
Laconia, New Hampshire.
Other recipients of
2008 travel bursaries are Kushol Gupta
(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine),
Hasan Demirci (Brown University) and Stephen Shouldice (University of
Queensland).
RIP
Myrtle
Professor Elspeth Garman of the University of Oxford announced the
retirement of Myrtle: "Myrtle, our trusty Rigaku X-ray generator, was
decommissioned today (August 14, 2008). In her 21 years in the lab (installed 1/6/87, routine operation 1/8/87), she has helped solve over 50 new
protein and DNA structures, and provided data for at least 250 ligand soak experiments. In 2003 she won an engraved clock for being the
longest running X-ray generator in the world (she has clocked through 99,999.9 hours back to 0, and is now on 43,312 hours). She was in
operation for over 90% of the hours since her installation. She is one
of the unsung stars of the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics."
Myrtle's hour meter at decommissioning.
Inset shows hour meter about to roll over.
» See
Myrtles's longevity award
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