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June 2002

The Laboratory in the News

Fighting Bioterrorism, Fighting Cancer
Commentary by Bert Weinstein

A Two-Pronged Attack on Bioterrorism
Synthetic two-legged molecules will be excellent detectors
of biowarfare agents and cancer cells.

Adaptive Optics Sharpen the View from Earth
Astronomers are obtaining images with unprecedented resolution, thanks to telescopes equipped with adaptive optics developed at Livermore.

Experiments Re-Create X rays from Comets
Experiments using the Laboratory's electron beam ion trap and
an x-ray spectrometer designed by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration are shedding light on how comets emit x rays
as the pass the Sun.

Chemistry—50 years of Exploring the Material World
From isotopic analysis to atomic-level simulations of material behavior, Livermore's chemists and materials scientists apply their expertise to fulfill the Laboratory's mission.

Patents and Awards

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A Two-Pronged Attack on Bioterrorism
(pdf file, 3MB)
New synthetic molecules known as high-affinity ligands that bind to and capture biowarfare agents are being designed at Livermore. With a bidentate (two-pronged) structure, their binding strength will be thousands to millions of times stronger than molecules that join at just one place. The first such ligand is being designed for a Clostridium neurotoxin tetanus protein, using its structure as a starting point. Using computational techniques, researchers have located two adjacent binding sites on the tetanus targeting domain and also identified numerous compounds that would fit into the sites. Laboratory experiments using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry narrowed the choices of molecular compounds by determining which compounds actually bound to the two sites. The two best choices will be joined by a third linker molecule to create a ligand to bind tightly to the tetanus toxin. Similarly designed molecules can also be used to target proteins that cause disease and block their activity. Armed with the radionuclide used in radiation therapy, such molecules could make excellent cancer-fighting tools. Work has begun on a high-affinity ligand for a surface receptor for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Adaptive Optics Sharpen the View from Earth
(pdf file, 3MB)
Astronomers are reporting exceptional results from the adaptive optics systems installed at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the University of California Lick Observatory near San Jose. The images are shedding new light on the formation of stars and galaxies, revealing unexpected features on planets and moons in our solar system, and yielding new information on black holes residing in the centers of distant galaxies. Adaptive optics measure the distortions of light from a natural star or one manufactured by a powerful laser, and then remove the distortions by reflecting the light off a deformable mirror that adjusts several hundred times per second to sharpen the image. Livermore researchers have been among the leaders in designing and using adaptive optics systems on astronomical telescopes. Livermore also has been the leader in designing laser guide stars to allow adaptive optics to be used over more of the sky. The next generation of telescopes almost certainly will require laser guide stars and adaptive optics systems.

Experiments Re-Creat X Rays from Comets (pdf file, 4.6MB)
Experiments using the Laboratory's electron beam ion trap and an x-ray spectrometer designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are shedding light on how comets emit x rays as the pass the Sun.

Chemistry—50 Years of Exploring the Material World (pdf file, 2.5MB)
From isotopic analysis to atomic-level simulations of material behavior, Livermore's chemists and materials scientists apply their expertise to fulfill the Laboratory's mission.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy

UCRL-52000-02-5 | June 14, 2002