2014 – International Year of Crystallography

R. Kužel

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Ke Karlovu 5, 121 16 Praha 2, Czech Republic

The year 2014 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014). It commemorates the centennial of the birth of X-ray crystallography, thanks to the work of Max von Laue and William Henry and William Lawrence Bragg. The year 2014 also commemorates the 50th anniversary of another Nobel Prize, that awarded to Dorothy Hodgkin for her work on vitamin B12 and penicillin. One aim of the Year is to promote education and public awareness through a variety of activities. Crystallographers are active in more than 80 countries, 53 of which are members of the International Union of Crystallography. There is a need to broaden the base of crystallography.

Among justification of the declaration of the IYCr by General Assembly of the United Nations (July 3, 2012) we can find for example this:

“Stressing that education about and the application of crystallography are critical in addressing challenges such as diseases and environmental problems, by providing protein and small molecule structures suited for drug design essential for medicine and public health, as well as solutions for plant and soil contamination,

Considering that the impact of crystallography is present everywhere in our daily lives, in modern drug development, nanotechnology and biotechnology, and underpins the development of all new materials, from toothpaste to aeroplane components,

Considering also the significance of the scientific achievements of crystallography, as illustrated by twenty-three Nobel Prizes awarded in the area, and that crystallography is still fertile ground for new and promising fundamental research,

Considering further that 2014 marks the centenary of the beginning of modern crystallography and its identification as the most powerful tool for structure determination of matter,

Recognizing the leading role of the International Union of Crystallography, an adhering body of the International Council for Science, in coordinating and promoting crystallographic activities at the international, regional and national levels around the world.“

There many activities during the whole year and around the World (http://www.iycr2014.org/) including the Czech and Slovak Republics (http://www.xray.cz/iycr/). Starting with opening ceremony in Paris (January 20-21), they often focus on presenting wide scope of modern crystallography going from protein crystallography to materials science. It is important in many different fields – chemistry, physics, and mineralogy. In last years, popular applications can be found in forensic science, archeology, and art (both analysis of work of art and analysis of symmetry in art). The analysis of the so-called real structure of the matter, in particular thin films, that includes crystal lattice defects, strains, residual stresses, textures, lattice misfits etc. is crucial also for technological development.

Recently, the first X-ray diffraction experiment was performed on another planet – Mars and subsequent analysis revealed the presence of clay minerals, in addition to minerals found in basalt. The age of the rocks showed that Mars hosted wet environments more recently that previously thought. The minerals found are compatible with an environment that was potentially habitable to life with near-neutral pH and moderate temperature. The interaction of mantle minerals such as olivine with water and CO₂ produces simple prebiotic organic compounds. H₂ deliberated in these water-rock reactions can act as an energy source for early chemolithotrophic life.

Since the conferences includes many contributions on protein crystallography, this short contribution will be devoted to the IYCr and more to the importance of crystallography as typically interdisciplinary field.