Solving molecular and biological problems.

In 1590, Dutch optician Zacharias Janssen opened new worlds when he created the first compound microscope. The innovation enabled scientists to view many tiny objects for the first time and ultimately led to advances in medicine, biology, and criminology. Today, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), Richland, Wash., are using an analytical device thousands of times more powerful than Janssen's microscope to find answers to biological and molecular problems related to human health and environmental restoration.

They are utilizing a suite of nuclear magnetic resonator (NMR) spectrometers that can provide molecular-level information about a variety of materials in their natural state, including inside the human body. Instead of glass lenses, NMRs view microscopic objects by using superconducting magnets and radio waves.

In health effects research, the scientists are using the spectrometers to examine possible biological effects resulting from exposure to chemicals or radiation. According to EMSL's Michael Kennedy, they hope to Understand how proteins recognize DNA damage, which is important because the...