{"id":53798,"date":"2022-11-03T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=53798"},"modified":"2025-07-14T12:20:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T10:20:04","slug":"two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/","title":{"rendered":"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is an exciting time for structural biology technology development in Grenoble. Several researchers and engineers from the McCarthy, Marquez, and Instrumentation teams at EMBL Grenoble, together with the Structural Biology group at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), have been working over the past year to enhance the workflows and modalities of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/services-facilities\/grenoble\/synchrotron-beamline-access\/massif-1\/\">MASSIF-1<\/a>, a fully automated beamline dedicated to macromolecular crystallography, jointly operated by EMBL and the ESRF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To bring closer integration with the scientific services offered at the EMBL High-Throughput Crystallisation Facility (HTX Facility), they have integrated a <em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> harvester into the experimental room of the beamline, enabling a complete automation of crystal delivery, from the crystals grown on plates to data collection at the beamline (\u2018from plate to beam\u2019), and opening new experimental opportunities. The team recently completed the set-up of this new configuration, now open to academic users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grafting a fine-tuned robot to the beamline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Macromolecular crystallography is one of the techniques used to determine the 3D structures of macromolecules, like proteins, by shooting X-rays at regularly structured arrays of molecules, packed together in a crystal. The whole process involves several manual steps, including growing the crystal, harvesting and preparing the crystalline samples, and performing the experiments at the synchrotron beamline.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of these steps have been progressively automated over the past years thanks to technological innovations developed at EMBL Grenoble by the Instrumentation team, in collaboration with the Marquez Team, which has developed and operates the HTX Facility, and the McCarthy team, which jointly operates EMBL-ESRF beamlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1604-crystaldirect\/\">CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/a><\/em> technology consists of an extremely precise robot that streamlines the step of crystal sample harvesting and preparation for X-ray diffraction at the beamline. It automatically harvests the crystal from the crystallisation plate where it has been grown, and preserves the crystal sample by cryo-cooling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This technology was first implemented at the HTX Lab at EMBL Grenoble, which provides access to automated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jove.com\/fr\/v\/62491\/the-automated-crystallography-pipelines-at-embl-htx-facility\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">protein-to-structure workflows<\/a> and X-ray based fragment and ligand screening pipelines for structure based drug design to users in academia and industry. However, manual steps were still needed to physically transport the cryo-cooled crystal samples to the beamline at the ESRF \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The integration of a <em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> robotic harvester into the experimental hutch of MASSIF-1 with its data collection pipeline contributes to streamlining operations and therefore opens the opportunity to support new types of experiments. The teams have explored new possibilities to further improve the associated workflows and experimental modalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-centered  size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/EMBL-ESRF-ID30A-1-MASSIF-1_009.jpg\" alt=\"View from above of a human-sized rectangular box with several pieces of equipment inside\" class=\"wp-image-53800\" width=\"384\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/EMBL-ESRF-ID30A-1-MASSIF-1_009.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/EMBL-ESRF-ID30A-1-MASSIF-1_009-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">The <em><\/em><em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> high precision robot installed in the MASSIF-1 experimental hutch. Credits: Stuart Ingham\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A fully automated \u2018from plate to beam\u2019 service open to academic users<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Already considered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1509-massif1\/\">one of a kind<\/a> for being the only fully automated beamline dedicated to structural biology worldwide, MASSIF-1 has been delivering high quality and reliability data collection and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/massif-1-beamline-in-grenoble-supports-covid-19-drug-discovery\/\">drug screening<\/a> capabilities for academic researchers and the pharmaceutical industry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The integration of the <em><\/em><em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> technology into MASSIF-1 improves the beamline capacities even more, now offering a completely automated \u2018plate-to-beam\u2019 service, remotely accessible to the users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the process of integrating the <em><\/em><em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> workflows into the beamline pipelines, the teams have been working on fine-tuning the processes to speed them up and increase the number of crystal samples being handled at the same time. The beamline is now able to harvest crystals and collect data simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New experimental modalities will also be available, such as high-throughput room temperature data collection for a better understanding of protein dynamics, and automated crystal dehydration experiments to improve crystal quality parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">The robotic arm (left) collects the crystal samples from the <em><\/em><em>CrystalDirect<sup>TM<\/sup><\/em> harvester and directly positions them in an extremely precise position for X-ray diffraction experiments. On the right side, a humidity control device used for room temperature experiments. Credits: Stuart Ingham\/EMBL, Isabel Romero Calvo\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a brilliant example of yet another fruitful collaboration between EMBL and ESRF in developing innovative state-of-the-art instruments for structural biology. Being able to completely automate processes from crystal preparation to structure determination is mind-blowing. This new pipeline will boost both in-house research and will be most valuable for our user community,&#8221; said Kristina Djinovic-Carugo, Head of EMBL Grenoble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After several months of testing the new configuration, pipelines, and processes during the day, while the regular data collection was scheduled at night thanks to the beamline automated workflows, the \u2018enhanced version\u2019 of MASSIF-1 is now open to academic users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"vf-box vf-box--very-easy | vf-u-margin__bottom--400\">\n      <h3 class=\"vf-box__heading\">\n                More information                  <\/h3> \n        <p class=\"vf-box__text\">Interested academic users can reach out to the <a href=\"http:\/\/htx@embl.fr\">HTX lab<\/a> or the scientists in charge of the <a href=\"http:\/\/massif1@esrf.fr\">MASSIF-1 beamline<\/a> to find out more about these new modalities. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vf-box__text\">Opportunities for funded access are available through <a href=\"https:\/\/inext-discovery.eu\/\">iNEXT Discovery<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/instruct-eric.eu\/\">Instruct-ERIC<\/a>. Please contact the <a href=\"http:\/\/htx@embl.fr\">HTX lab<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":53816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,17591],"tags":[726,13985,3718,37,33,361,253,411,13999,35,1770,1714],"embl_taxonomy":[9792,19339,19335,19349,1804,5148],"class_list":["post-53798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lab-matters","category-science-technology","tag-beamline","tag-crystaldirect","tag-engineering","tag-grenoble","tag-instrumentation","tag-marquez","tag-massif-1","tag-mccarthy","tag-papp","tag-structural-biology","tag-technology","tag-x-ray-crystallography","embl_taxonomy-embl-grenoble","embl_taxonomy-marquez-team","embl_taxonomy-mccarthy-team","embl_taxonomy-papp-team","embl_taxonomy-services-and-facilities","embl_taxonomy-structural-biology-embl-grenoble"],"acf":{"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"<p>Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"MASSIF-1 beamline","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/services-facilities\/grenoble\/synchrotron-beamline-access\/massif-1\/"},{"link_description":"High-throughput crystallisation facility","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/services-facilities\/grenoble\/high-throughput-crystallisation\/"},{"link_description":"Grenoble Instrumentation Team","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/grenoble-instrumentation\/"},{"link_description":"Marquez Team","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/marquez\/"},{"link_description":"McCarthy team","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/mccarthy\/"},{"link_description":"ESRF Structural Biology group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.esrf.fr\/UsersAndScience\/Experiments\/MX"}],"source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None","article_translations":false,"languages":"","vf_locked":false,"vfwp-news_embl_taxonomy":[9792,19349,19335,19339,5148,1804]},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"b14d3f13-5670-44fb-8970-e54dfd9c921a\";i:1;s:36:\"89e00fee-87f4-482e-a801-4c3548bb6a58\";i:2;s:36:\"8f81131e-d37c-470c-848f-618fce652295\";}","parents":[],"name":["EMBL Grenoble"],"slug":"embl-grenoble","description":"Where &gt; All EMBL sites &gt; EMBL Grenoble"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"fc528877-4017-438f-85b4-de2b54c443f1\";i:2;s:36:\"a40068ba-02fe-4217-ada3-a2968ae27da2\";}","parents":[],"name":["M\u00e1rquez Team"],"slug":"marquez-team","description":"What &gt; Structural Biology (EMBL Grenoble) &gt; M\u00e1rquez Team"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"fc528877-4017-438f-85b4-de2b54c443f1\";i:2;s:36:\"cace2fac-b6a0-45a4-aa9c-2ffce0858c05\";}","parents":[],"name":["McCarthy Team"],"slug":"mccarthy-team","description":"What &gt; Structural Biology (EMBL Grenoble) &gt; McCarthy Team"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"fc528877-4017-438f-85b4-de2b54c443f1\";i:2;s:36:\"e5cf42ea-6311-48de-ab00-3b4dfa79b901\";}","parents":[],"name":["Papp Team"],"slug":"papp-team","description":"What &gt; Structural Biology (EMBL Grenoble) &gt; Papp Team"},{"uuid":"a:2:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"ef0437fc-a5b7-4c73-bcfd-63bff16cb35e\";}","parents":[],"name":["Services and facilities"],"slug":"services-and-facilities","description":"What &gt; Services and facilities"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"7ca3ce91-dc32-47ea-8d4b-7a53c3a3a9fd\";i:2;s:36:\"fc528877-4017-438f-85b4-de2b54c443f1\";}","parents":[],"name":["Structural Biology (EMBL Grenoble)"],"slug":"structural-biology-embl-grenoble","description":"What &gt; Research Units &gt; Structural Biology (EMBL Grenoble)"}],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/845a38992ad0698d457ec1dd32d13c79\"},\"headline\":\"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"beamline\",\"CrystalDirect\",\"engineering\",\"grenoble\",\"instrumentation\",\"marquez\",\"massif-1\",\"mccarthy\",\"papp\",\"structural biology\",\"technology\",\"x-ray crystallography\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lab Matters\",\"Science &amp; Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\",\"name\":\"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"The CrystalDirect harvester (top right) integrated into the experimental hutch of the MASSIF-1 beamline, together with two pieces of equipment for sample transfer and humidity control. Credits: Stuart Ingham\/EMBL, Isabel Romero Calvo\/EMBL\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/845a38992ad0698d457ec1dd32d13c79\",\"name\":\"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fde990ea593a68856d19cf7977a6cedcffea68f7171a1d49b0383e263032765?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fde990ea593a68856d19cf7977a6cedcffea68f7171a1d49b0383e263032765?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/mandreembl-fr\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL","description":"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL","og_description":"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embl","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/"},"author":{"name":"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/845a38992ad0698d457ec1dd32d13c79"},"headline":"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect","datePublished":"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/"},"wordCount":734,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","keywords":["beamline","CrystalDirect","engineering","grenoble","instrumentation","marquez","massif-1","mccarthy","papp","structural biology","technology","x-ray crystallography"],"articleSection":["Lab Matters","Science &amp; Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/","name":"Two in one: combining MASSIF-1 and CrystalDirect | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-03T10:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T10:20:04+00:00","description":"Researchers and engineers have integrated a CrystalDirect harvester into the fully automated beamline MASSIF-1, a unique combination of structural biology technologies that is now open to external academic users","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/two-in-one-combining-massif-1-and-crystaldirect\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"The CrystalDirect harvester (top right) integrated into the experimental hutch of the MASSIF-1 beamline, together with two pieces of equipment for sample transfer and humidity control. Credits: Stuart Ingham\/EMBL, Isabel Romero Calvo\/EMBL"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/845a38992ad0698d457ec1dd32d13c79","name":"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fde990ea593a68856d19cf7977a6cedcffea68f7171a1d49b0383e263032765?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fde990ea593a68856d19cf7977a6cedcffea68f7171a1d49b0383e263032765?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9"},"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/mandreembl-fr\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/highlight1-scaled-e1667405222953.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53798"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73939,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53798\/revisions\/73939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53798"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=53798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}