BioCARS is a national user facility for synchrotron-based static and dynamic studies of biological macromolecules, located at Sector 14 of the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory.
BioCARS is an integral part of the multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS) at the University of Chicago.
The mission of BioCARS is to develop state-of-the-art facilities and provide scientific and technical expertise and user support for studies of static and dynamic properties of macromolecules by X-ray scattering techniques such as static and time-resolved crystallography, SAXS/WAXS and fiber diffraction. The goal of research conducted at BioCARS is to understand basic biological processes in structural and dynamic terms, at the atomic resolution level. Scientific problems addressed by BioCARS users and staff are fundamental to basic science, highly relevant to significant biomedical problems and of great practical importance to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
BioCARS operates two experimental stations, embedded in a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility. This BSL-3 synchrotron-based capability is unique in the United States and permits safe studies of biohazardous materials, such as pathogenic human viruses.
BioCARS: a synchrotron resource for time-resolved X-ray science
Graber et al, J. Synchrotron Rad. 18, 658-670 (2011).
More about BioCARS: Facility and Scientific Mission › (PDF)
Time-resolved crystallography: past, present and future › (PDF)
Apply for BioCARS beamtime: Submit a proposal through the APS General User Program ›
Note: BioCARS uses the APS scheduling system for scheduling user beamtime. To submit the trip information for your scheduled beamtime, please follow the links in your beamtime notification or ESAF reminder e-mails or login to the APS scheduling system.
