STARS members from Georgia Tech visit
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
​By Susanna Huang
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Humans are social creatures. Indeed, for collaborations and projects to inspire and strengthen the next generation in science require friendships, connections, and community.
On a chilly Tuesday morning (October 15th, 2024) seven students and two faculty met up at the Howey Physics Building parking lot. One armed with a camera, one with a video script, one with extensive experience and the desire to share it, and all the rest with an eagerness to learn.
The sun still had not yet risen when they left campus.
The road trip to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with Dr. Wilkinson driving.
The experienced one, Dr. Wilkinson, had been performing crystallography- and neutron diffraction-related experiments at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for more than 25 years. The one with the video script, Susanna Huang, had always been extremely interested in crystallography research since high school, leading her to form a crystal-growing club there and now a crystallography club at Georgia Tech. She wanted to document the trip and make it into something that could be understood by all.
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The other associate, Dr. Bernbeck, had been studying the structures and properties of inorganic and heavy-metal containing molecules through methods such as crystallography. He also had connections with the national laboratory through his research in the La Pierre group. Caty Lue, the one armed with the Canon camera, was involved with the crystallography club on campus as the media chair. She resolved to take photos of the trip for outreach purposes.
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The association of the faculty with the STARS crystallography club members on that day was not by chance. Both had previously participated as guest lecturers or lunch guests at Crystallography Workshops organized by the club.
Apr. 2024 Crystallography Workshop group photo, with Dr. Wilkinson (left) and Dr. Bernbeck (right) at the center.
In fact, it was during the end of the guest lunch session at the April 2024 Crystallography Workshop at Boggs when Dr. Wilkinson first suggested to Susanna the idea of going on a trip to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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After months of planning, a club meeting to prep for the trip, three long hours on the road, and a traffic jam, they finally approached the national laboratory. As they were arriving, the students gaped at how many buildings and facilities there were. The campus was much larger than that of Georgia Tech.
Susanna and Caty immediately began recording videos and taking photos. Other STARS members also joined in as well.
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The group filed into the badging office to check in. Their inside contact was Dr. Myles, a Distinguished Researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who had helped create many neutron related facilities and programs there over the last twenty years.
Dr. Dean Myles, distinguished researcher at ORNL.
He was a friend of Dr. Wilkinson’s and was going to guide the students to see the most prominent facilities and capabilities of the national lab.
Dr. Wilkinson (middle) with Dr. Bernbeck (left) and Dr. Myles (right) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).
Dr. Wilkinson drove the group to ORNL, and his contact and friend, Dr. Myles, kindly gave the students the tour. Dr. Myles and Dr. Wilkinson’s connection was what made this trip possible.
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Their first destination was the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the home of advanced neutron diffraction and spectroscopy experiments. Such experiments require a neutron source. Where did they come from? Protons, explained Dr. Myles, are shot at a mercury target, enclosed and hidden behind a thick layer of concrete, and the protons knock bursts of neutrons out of the mercury atoms. These neutrons are then guided away to different “caves”, which are essentially concrete bunkers containing scientific instruments, positioned around the target for individual neutron scattering experiments.
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He pointed at a huge diagram showing all the instruments around the mercury target. There were 20 caves, which meant 20 neutron beams and 20 simultaneous experiments.
Dr. Myles explaining the instruments at the SNS.
As they walked across the facility, with the students following close behind and listening intently, he explained to them that experiments can come in two flavors: (1) neutron diffraction for determining and seeing structures of materials and macromolecules and (2) neutron spectroscopy for determining and understanding dynamics of materials and complexes.
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The Macromolecular Neutron Diffractometer (MaNDi), which requires large protein/nucleic acid crystals as samples, was the prominent instrument at the SNS for determining macromolecular structures, which can be useful for designing and optimizing therapeutics for treating diseases.
Dr. Myles explaining the instruments at the SNS.
As they continued around the SNS, Dr. Myles and Dr. Wilkinson took turns explaining things to the students, and the students paid close attention.
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But what if there was a protein/nucleic acid complex that you wanted to understand but you could not distinguish the two components? The students were curious.
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There is a solution. As they learned in a lecture by Dr. Weiss a research associate, you can use contrast experiments and take advantage of different hydrogen/deuterium ratios in macromolecules to selectively hide some contributions to the signal in the experiment and emphasize the signals of the protein or nucleic acid you want to investigate.
Dr. Weiss giving a presentation about deuteration and contrast experiments.
Another method that can also be used is to directly deuterate macromolecules either by growing the bacteria expression systems in a deuterium-rich environment or by synthesizing them directly in the lab. These can be very important for investigating protonation states of active sites, investigating how a molecule binds with a protein complex, or understanding how to optimize a therapeutic on the molecular level. The students were blown away by the ingenuity and specificity of these experiments.
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​Before they left the SNS, the group had a chance to tour the Protein Crystallization and Characterization Lab there, and Susanna became especially excited. The students were shown how protein crystals were grown there for X-ray and neutron diffraction and structure determination.
Dr. Kovalevsky showing students the Rigaku diffractometer in the Protein Characterization and Crystallization Lab.
They even saw beautiful crystals under the microscope from experiments that Dr. Kovalevsky and Dr. Keable (ORNL) were growing. Each of the students looked at the crystals with surprise and delight.
Who would have known that some important scientific experiments would come in the form of beautiful, colorful crystals?
Beautiful single protein crystal at ORNL.
Afterwards, they drove to the Graphite Reactor (X-10), the world’s first continuously operating nuclear reactor. There were areas surrounded by tall fences, warning signs, and barbed wire. This was where the production of plutonium from uranium for the Manhattan Project was tested, after which the larger scale production was done in Washington state for WWII. This was also where the world’s first neutron diffraction experiments for investigating materials and structures took place.
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If the outside looked menacing, the inside was quite the opposite. It was like a welcoming, inviting museum.
The Graphite Reactor Loading face.
The students learned about the history of X-10, how the reactor first went critical in the middle of the night, and how the scientists kept the reactor going.
Dr. Keable explaining that night the X-10 reactor went critical, next to the mural depicting the scene.
They looked at the long descriptions on the walls and read about the history of X-10, in the context of WWII and improvements in scientific knowledge, mulling over it and its significance for the development of the United States’ scientific and military research.
Reading the history of the graphite reactor.
They walked back and drove to the third and final location, the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). The reactor had just started a new operating cycle that day. Unlike the SNS, where pulses of neutrons are sent as neutron beams to the different instruments, HFIR generates continuous streams of neutrons for several weeks on end with no variation, until the uranium fuel is burnt up. The group was extremely excited to have caught HFIR on its first day of a new cycle.
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The entire reactor sits in a large pool of water. The students observed the whole scene from behind a wall of glass, looking at the half-shrouded pool. They learned from Dr. Myles that the neutrons produced by the reactor are directly collected and sent to instruments beyond the walls of the pool. The neutrons were largely used for experiments on inorganic materials, small molecules, and polymers, experiments that Dr. Wilkinson and Dr. Bernbeck were generally excited about. The students watched on, asking questions left and right.
Dr. O’Neill explaining recent research.
The group then went into the guide hall. Lower-energy neutrons are guided to instruments such as the Laue Diffractometer IMAGINE to solve protein and macromolecular structures, and to the small angle scattering instrument to learn about polymer structures.
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These longer wavelength neutrons are generally better suited for protein and other macromolecular experiments.
They took a nice group photo above IMAGINE at HFIR, marking the end of the tour.
Photo marking the end of the ORNL tour; from left to right: Caty Lue, Sara Hunihan, Gurnoor Hayer, Ruthie Fowler, Carlos Marrufo, Nishadh Naik, Susanna Huang, Dr. Angus Wilkinson (GaTech), Dr. Dean Myles (ORNL), and Dr. Max Bernbeck (GaTech).
Overall, the day was packed with adventure, new learning, and new connections with ORNL research associates. They were extremely thankful to Dr. Myles and Dr. Wilkinson for the opportunity to visit Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They had learned quite a lot, and it was so fun and exciting!
While the road trip from GaTech to ORNL was, for the most part, very silent, with the students keeping to themselves and looking at their own phones, the trip from ORNL back to Georgia Tech was much more talkative as the students shared with each other their favorite parts of the trip and how much they enjoyed it. The shared ORNL touring experience helped them begin bonding with each other more nicely.
Soon, they reached the halfway point, and the nine-person group celebrated the trip and the end of the day with a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel.
Dinner at Cracker Barrel.
Connections with faculty and fellow students are important for building up and maintaining collaborations and outreach projects. Without them, the means, methods, and connections required for a collaboration might not be possible. Through them, research-focused student and student-faculty communities can be built, bringing more structural biology research experiences and understanding to students, bringing up the next generation of scientists.
Photo of STARS members on the ORNL trip.
The video that Susanna wanted to produce was indeed produced. You can see the video for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory 2024 Trip here: https://youtu.be/5fsg_eGrtG4?si=RPkkL7t9Nr6Q9sqp
The STARS Mission: Engage and empower students in crystal-growing, crystallography, and structural biology research. (https://www.starsanticancer.org/atlanta-branch)
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The Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mission: World-class education and research in the chemical and biochemical sciences, with emphasis on interfaces with questions and applications in biology, materials, energy and sustainability, health care, and engineering. (https://chemistry.gatech.edu/)
ORNL Mission: Deliver scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs needed to realize solutions in energy and national security and provide economic benefit to the nation. (https://www.ornl.gov/)
The trip was made possible through the ORNL, GaTech, and STARS collaboration.
The Structural Nucleic Acid Anticancer Research Society (STARS) is a student-run nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the love of science and structural biology research with students. Over the last three years we have organized over 11 different events such as crystal-growing competitions, crystal-growing summer camps, and crystallography workshops for over 350+ participants cumulatively. In the summer of 2024, we were able to raise over $800 at the American Crystallographic Association conference from corporations and conference attendees to support our spring 2025 initiatives. Because attending and presenting at the national American Crystallographic Association conference is important for STARS students' scientific development, we recently started a fundraiser to help lessen the financial burden of students who wish to attend and present at the American Crystallographic Association conference for the 2025 summer. If you support the STARS mission to engage and empower students in crystal-growing, crystallography, and structural biology, please consider making a donation today: https://gofund.me/cb45fca6