The Structural Biology Center (SBC) was a dedicated facility for macromolecular crystallography at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). It offered state-of-the-art beamlines, including an insertion device (19-ID) and a bending magnet (19-BM), for a wide range of crystallographic experiments. It was located at Sector 19 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS). The SBC beamlines were well suited to a wide range of crystallographic experiments, including:
- Crystals of macromolecular assemblies with very large unit cells
- MAD/SAD phasing
- Crystals of membrane proteins
- Small, weakly diffracting crystals
- Ultra-high resolution crystallography
- Cryo-crystallography
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) and operated for the DOE Office of Science at the Advanced Photon Source by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357, SBC’s mission was to advance scientific knowledge and innovation in structural biology while supporting the DOE objectives. SBC provided advanced data collection facilities and addressed the most challenging structural biology problems to advance scientific knowledge. SBC was an important component of integrated biosciences and contributed to the expansion of existing programs and the exploration of new opportunities in structural biology, proteomics, and genomics research, and medicine. These efforts were highly relevant to energy resources, health, a clean environment, and national security.
For over 2 decades, Dr. Andrzej Joachimiak served as the Director of the Structural Biology Center (SBC). Under his leadership, SBC made significant contributions to high-throughput crystallography and the development of cutting-edge facilities for macromolecular crystallography. SBC's efforts have resulted in the discovery of thousands of novel protein structures and continues to advancing research in medicine and leaves a strong legacy with researchers.
Andrzej Joachimiak
Argonne Distinguished Fellow
University of Chicago, Professor
Co-Dir. Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases
Emeritus Director, Structural Biology Center
Advanced Photon Source,
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue
Bldg. #446; Room A104
Lemont, IL 60439 USA
Phone: (630) 252-3926
Fax: (630) 252-0564