A University of Houston chemical and biomolecular engineering professor's theories on crystal formation will be tested aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Professor Peter Vekilov received a grant from NASA to study how proteins in a liquid solution nucleate, or form crystals. While researchers understand how crystals grow, they want to know more about how they transform from liquid to crystal.
Vekilov discovered in 2004 that before forming a crystal, proteins in a solution come together in dense droplets, where they possibly begin to unfold into the shape they have when crystalized.
