Enabling time-resolved scattering and diffraction experiments: tackling reaction initiation and improving time-resolution

One of the major aims of structural biology is to obtain a molecular level mechanistic understanding of biological processes. For these reasons time-resolved structural experiments have long been the dream of many structural enzymologists. However, such experiments are not technically easy to achieve, largely due to challenges in initiating the reaction in a defined way. I will present an overview of the possible approaches to reaction initiation as well as some of our recent advances. I will also present a variation on the standard pump-probe data collection schema for time-resolved experiments that enables fast experiments to be carried out on standard monochromatic X-ray sources and with slower detectors.