Dr. Srinivas Chakravarthy, BioCAT beamline scientist, prepares a
SEC-MALS-SAXS experiment on RNA elements from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Small-angle solution x-ray scattering and biochemical characterization studies
at the BioCAT are being used to study the structure of portions of RNA from the
SARS-CoV-2 virus. This RNA contains the genetic instructions the virus uses to
replicate itself. These experiments are de-signed to see how these structures
change when they interact with selected small molecules that are potential drug
candidates. This work is a collaboration between Blanton Tolbert (Department of
Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University), Amanda Hargrove (Duke University),
Srinivas Chakravarthy (Illinois Institute of Technology, pictured above) and
a NMR consortium coordinated by Harald Schwalbe at the Goethe University (Germany).