[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 7, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H4440-H4441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PROTEIN CRYSTAL GROWTH ON THE SPACE STATION

  (Mr. WELDON of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to tell my colleagues 
about one area of science that will be performed aboard the space 
station.
  Protein crystallography is a field of research that allows scientists 
to determine the structure of proteins that play critical roles in 
diseases.
  To use this technique, researchers must grow large, high-quality 
crystals of the protein. On Earth, gravity often causes the crystals to 
grow imperfectly, preventing scientists from developing new disease-
fighting drugs.
  Protein crystals grown in space, as demonstrated on many space 
shuttle

[[Page H4441]]

flights, are superior in quality and size to those grown on Earth. This 
means that researchers can better develop drugs to battle disease.
  In fact, protein crystal grown on the shuttle have already allowed 
researchers to develop drugs that are in FDA trials even as we speak.
  But the growth of many crystals requires more than a few days 
available aboard the shuttle. That is why we need the space shuttle.
  It will permit researchers to grow their crystals in a nearly perfect 
microgravity environment for long periods of time.
  Mr. Speaker, researchers from universities and companies around the 
world strongly support the international space station, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.

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