pcg

To determine the structure, researchers must grow near-perfect crystals of the protein being studied. On Earth, convection currents, sedimentation, and other gravity-induced phenomena hamper crytal growth efforts. In microgravity, researchers can grow near-perfect crystals in an environment free of these effects. Because of the enormous potential for new pharmaceutical products, the Center for Macromolecular Crystallography -- the NASA Commercial Space Center responsible for commercial protein crystal growth efforts -- has more than 50 major industry and academic partners. Experiment on STS-95

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA 's) Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) program has been developed to learn how protein crystals grow in space and how to optimize the growth process, while producing large, high-quality crystals of selected proteins. Flown onboard MSL-1 on STS-94, STS-57, STS-60, STS-62, STS-95