Time-Resolved Crystallography at X-ray Free Electron Lasers and Synchrotron Light Sources

Serial femtosecond crystallography with biological macromolecules is a rapidly developing method tailored to the immense brilliance of the emerging free electron lasers for hard X-rays (X-ray FELs). Recently, the first successful time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallographic experiment at near atomic resolution was conducted at the Linac Coherent Light Source. The X-ray FEL-based experiments will trigger new developments not only at the X-ray FELs, but also at existing synchrotron light sources. This review will attempt to summarize some of the most important experiments to date and give a brief outlook on what to expect.