Credit: Image courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Xiaolin Cheng and Mike Matheson
Neutron scattering is a valuable technique for studying cell membranes, but signals from the cell’s other components such as proteins, RNA, DNA and carbohydrates can get in the way (left). A team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory made these other components practically invisible to neutrons by combining specific levels of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) with normal hydrogen within the cell (right).