Proceedings of the 6th workshop on neutron crystallography in biology

It has been recognized that neutron diffraction is an important means of research which can obtain the information on the positions of hydrogen atoms and water molecules which bear important roles in physiological functions, but due to the shortage of the diffractometers that give sufficient diffraction intensity, the utilization has not advanced. By the improvement of neutron flux due to the realization of the JRR-3M and the recent remarkable progress of biochemistry and biophysics, the structural analysis at atomic and molecular levels of the matters of living bodies and the elucidation of physiological functions have become to be carried out. The neutron diffractometer for the matters of living bodies aims at the top class in the world, and has been discussed by the experts in the world in five workshops. As the result, the neutron diffractometer was constructed, and the Gragg reflection from the single crystal of lysozyme protein was successfully observed for the first time in Japan. The 6th workshop was held on March 25, 1995 at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and the lecture by Dr. B.P. Schoenborn was given, and the examples of the application of neutron imaging plates were reported. The important contents of the publications are summarized in this report. (K.I.)