In mathematical terms, each crystallisation from the magma is described as the breaking of a symmetry.

ECONOMIST: Particle physics makes sense, but it assumes too much

At its heart is not just a shocking story of evil and transformation, but also a crystallisation of man's greatest dilemma, his relationship with himself.

ECONOMIST: A man who, by turns, was seductive and infuriating

Its weakness is that, as its name implies, you have to have a crystal of the protein in question and by no means all proteins are amenable to crystallisation.

ECONOMIST: REPORT: PROTEOMICS: After the genome | The

The two most ambitious of these, Structural GenomiX and Syrrx Genomics, both based in San Diego, think they have already solved the crystallisation question, although their solutions differ slightly.

ECONOMIST: REPORT: PROTEOMICS: After the genome | The

Adam Matzger of the University of Michigan and his colleagues have discovered a way around that problem by using a process called co-crystallisation, which is commonly used by drugmakers to modify the physical properties of a pharmaceutical.

ECONOMIST: A new hybrid explosive is safer to handle but still powerful