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While protein crystallography has, for many years, been the most used method for structural analysis of macromolecular complexes, remarkable recent advances in high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy led to suggestions that 'the revolution will not be crystallised'. Here we highlight the current success rate, speed and ease of modern crystallographic structure determination and some recent triumphs of both 'classical' crystallography and the use of X-ray free electron lasers. We also outline fundamental differences between structure determination using X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy. We suggest that crystallography will continue to co-exist with electron microscopy as part of an integrated array of methods, allowing structural biologists to focus on fundamental biological questions rather than being constrained by the methods available.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.sbi.2017.06.005

Type

Journal article

Journal

Current opinion in structural biology

Publication Date

04/07/2017

Volume

46

Pages

95 - 101

Addresses

Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. Electronic address: matthew.higgins@bioch.ox.ac.uk.