The number of new X-ray crystallography-based submissions to the Protein Data Bank appears to be at the beginning of a decline, perhaps signalling an end to the era of the dominance of X-ray crystallography within structural biology. This letter, from the viewpoint of a young structural biologist, applies the Copernican method to the life expectancy of crystallography and asks whether the technique is still the mainstay of structural biology. A study of the rate of Protein Data Bank depositions allows a more nuanced analysis of the fortunes of macromolecular X-ray crystallography and shows that cryo-electron microscopy might now be outcompeting crystallography for new labour and talent, perhaps heralding a change in the landscape of the field.

中文翻译：

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高分子X射线晶体学：很快就会成为一条少有人走的路？

向蛋白质数据库提交的基于 X 射线晶体学的新提交数量似乎正处于下降的开始，这可能标志着 X 射线晶体学在结构生物学中占据主导地位的时代的结束。这封信从一位年轻结构生物学家的角度，将哥白尼方法应用于晶体学的预期寿命，并询问该技术是否仍然是结构生物学的支柱。对蛋白质数据库沉积率的研究可以对大分子 X 射线晶体学的命运进行更细致的分析，并表明冷冻电子显微镜现在可能在争夺新劳动力和人才方面胜过晶体学，这或许预示着大分子 X 射线晶体学格局的变化。场。