Synchrotrons accelerate corona research
29 June 2021: KFS publishes press release with examples of corona research at synchrotron radiation sources
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To fight COVID-19, we need vaccines and medicine, and to develop these, we need to know the SARS-CoV-2 virus in detail. The virus cannot be seen with a normal light microscope, since it is smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Synchrotrons can produce the short-wave photons or X-rays required. It is of great advantage that we have an outstanding research infrastructure established in the last decades, both in Germany and abroad with German participation. Synchrotron light source facilities include PETRA III and FLASH at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, BESSY II at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin (HZB), European XFEL near Hamburg or ESRF in Grenoble, France. They allow the virus to be imaged with atomic precision. [more] |