Biomedical Applications of Synchrotron Radiation: Varenna on Lake Como, Villa Monastero, 12-22 July 1994, Volume 128

The unique properties of synchroton radiation including its broad spectrum extending from the infrared to the hard-X-ray region, its high degree of collimation and its polarization make it a powerful tool for a very wide range of applications. Initially it was mainly used to carry out experiments in classical fields like atomic and molecular physics, solid-state physics, chemistry, radiometry and so on. Nowadays it is widely used in many other fields like biophysics, biochemistry, macromolecular crystallography, microtomography, X-ray microscopy, X-ray holography, X-ray lithography, micro engineering and nano fabrication, surface science, material studies, trace and ultra-trace element analysis, medical applications and so on. New-generation storage rings have been and are being built dedicated to these kinds of applications. Also in the biological and medical fields very important results have been obtained. This book contains some of the most important and outstanding topics in the field of radiology, biocrystallography, time-resolved X-ray footprinting of DNA-protein reactions, X-ray microscopy of living biological systems and perspectives of LIGA processes in the realization of microapparata for medical purposes.