Rigaku/MSC, Inc. is pleased to announce its attendance at the 55th annual American Crystallographic Association from May 28 through June 2, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Rigaku, and its corporate divisions, will be exhibiting its advanced lines of single crystal X-ray Diffraction (SXRD) instrumentation at Booth #506. The 800 square foot island exhibit will be debuting a new crystal optimization instrument, the Proteros Free Mounting System™, a new high performance CCD detector, the Saturn 944, as well as a new protein dispensing system, the RoboDesign Kalypso HT. In addition, Rigaku will be showcasing a variety of their core products for macromolecular and small molecule crystallography.

Free Mounting System™, developed by Proteros Biostructures GmbH, is an integrated solution for optimization of protein crystals used in the collection of X-ray crystallographic data. It represents a significant advance in that it can dramatically improve the quality of X-ray crystallographic data obtained for macromolecular structure determination. The system allows very accurate control of protein crystal water content, enabling the ability to greatly improve diffraction behavior of difficult crystals. Suitable for both beamlines and home lab applications, benefits include: resolution, mosaicity, and anisotropy optimization, improved cryo-protocols, as well as reduced X-ray background.

Replacing the highly acclaimed Saturn 92, the new Rigaku Saturn 944 is the first of many outstanding products to be launched by the wholly owned detector division of Rigaku/MSC: Electronic Imaging Technologies. Incorporating the newest and most advanced Kodak CCD chip, the Saturn 944 brings a new dimension to data collection with a 4X increase in readout speed while providing benefits made possible by Blue Plus indium-tin-oxide (ITO) technology. The Saturn 944 combines a large format CCD, with a demagnification taper ratio of 1.88:1, to provide a detector specifically optimized for the high sensitivity and spatial resolution needs of the macromolecular crystallographer. The unit incorporates a 135 mm diameter fiberoptic taper bonded to a front-illuminated Kodak KAF-4320E CCD.

RoboDesign, the new automation division of Rigaku/MSC, is launching the newest member of its highly successful CrystalMation™ system, the Kalypso HT. This new protein dispense system features: plate setup in under 8 minutes, 96-up syringe-based technology, Teflon-coated stainless steel or coated flexible Nitinol needles, non-contact dispenser with volumes as low as 50 nL, as well as six plate positions, two additive plate positions, and a wash station on three decks. CrystalMation™ is a fully integrated and automated modular platform for automated protein crystallization.