Engineered nucleation features (ENFs) were designed with the hope to improve the efficiency of protein crystallization and increase... Show moreEngineered nucleation features (ENFs) were designed with the hope to improve the efficiency of protein crystallization and increase reproducibility both in quality and quantity. These ENFs were tested with human insulin as the protein of choice since it has flexible parameters, only one cofactor, and a large amount of commercially available crystal ready protein. Insulin crystallization on the ENFs will produce more crystals while also having a reduced crystallization on-set time compared to the control glass surface. The ENFs were compared to control surfaces under similar conditions and observed over time to record both onset-times and end times. The ENFs performed markedly better in on-set times, having an overall 87%-time reduction when compared to the control drops. The drops placed on the ENF produced more than 2.5x the number of crystals in the control drops. Show less
