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World-Record Magnet to Pull in
Scientific Breakthroughs
Tallahassee, Fla:
July 28, at 9:30 a.m., the The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory,
will host a commissioning ceremony to bring online a new, world-record magnet
that is expected to yield important discoveries in the fields of chemical and
biomedical research. Among those scheduled to speak at the ceremony are Florida
State University President T.K. Wetherell; Greg Boebinger, director of the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory; Win Phillips, vice president for
research at the University of Florida; and representatives from the National
Science Foundation. Also invited to attend are representatives from the U.S.
Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, as well as members
of the Tallahassee City Commission and Leon County Commission.
| The
superconducting magnet, which stands 16 feet tall and weighs more than
15 tons, was no overnight accomplishment. A team of engineers based at the magnet lab worked for 13
years to develop, design, manufacture and test it at the laboratory.
Several outside companies, including Intermagnetics General Corporation,
collaborated with the magnet lab. Now, with its commissioning,
scientists from around the world will be able to expand the horizons of
scientific investigation using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies.
At full strength, the
magnet has a magnetic field of 21 teslas — teslas being the measure of
magnetic field intensity. By comparison, the Earth's magnetic field is
about 0.00005 teslas.
What makes this
magnet particularly useful for scientific research, however, is its bore
size — 105 mm, or just over 4 inches. The bore is the space within the magnet that holds the
sample being tested. The larger the bore size, the larger the sample —
and the greater the range of scientific experiments that can be
conducted. |
 |
"The commissioning of the
magnet lab's new 900-megahertz NMR magnet marks the successful completion of the
third of the ‘Big Three' magnet projects on which the lab was founded,"
Boebinger said. "Whereas our other big magnet projects specialized in making the
most powerful magnetic fields, this magnet specializes in precision. The
900-megahertz magnet delivers 21-tesla magnetic fields that vary by less than
0.0000002 teslas over a volume roughly equal to the size of a small orange — an
accomplishment unrivaled anywhere else in the world.
"In addition to their
still-unequaled achievements in very powerful magnets over the past decade, this
outstanding engineering project demonstrates our Magnet Science and Technology
Team to be uniquely talented in bringing precision superconducting magnets to
scientific research," Boebinger said. "The incredibly precise magnetic fields of
the 900-megahertz magnet immediately position our chemistry and biology research
programs at the forefront of magnetic resonance research—research that will help
us understand the workings of biological molecules, as well as the workings of
the cell and the brain. Its large volume also enables us to probe the unusual
properties of materials under extreme conditions of heat and pressure similar to
those found deep in the Earth."
Science performed using the
magnet will range from materials research to macromolecular biological structure
determination and non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging of laboratory animals.
Timothy Cross, an FSU
chemistry professor and director of the NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging Program at
the magnet lab, said the new magnet will offer opportunities for observing
specific chemical and biological properties that were not available at lower
magnetic fields.
"There are unique benefits
that arise at high fields — some atoms become observable that were not practical
to observe at a lower field," he said. "In particular, we are finding that
oxygen, a major component of most biological molecules, is observable in the new
magnet. This provides us with a new tool for studying biological systems that
was not previously available."
Cross added that the new
magnet can be used to determine the shapes and chemical properties of large
biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids.
"Pharmaceuticals or drugs
bind to biological molecules and interfere or enhance their function. For
instance, a drug, amantadine, binds to a particular protein (the M2 protein) in
the influenza viral coat, preventing it from functioning and terminating the
viral infection. Today, we are using the new magnet with collaborators from
Northwestern University and Brigham Young University to define the detailed
shape and chemical properties of the M2 protein so that a more specific drug for
this protein can be designed."
In similar fashion, the
electrical and physical properties of materials can be characterized, leading to
the development of novel materials, Cross added.
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