Neutron scattering and diffraction techniques are uniquely sensitive to the position and dynamics of hydrogen atoms in materials and are a powerful tool for the characterization of structure-dynamics-function relationships in biological systems. The sensitivity of neutron to hydrogen (and to its isotope deuterium) atoms arises from the strong interaction of neutrons with the nuclei of these atoms. This property makes the information available from neutron scattering unique as well as a valuable complement to data obtained from other characterization techniques more typically used in biological sciences. Neutrons also have the advantage of not causing any measurable radiation damage to biological samples.

This collection brings together a wide range of neutron techniques that have been developed in order to study biological systems (and examples of their applications). Neutron research facilities offer access to an advanced, non-destructive suite of instruments for biophysical characterization which provides structure and dynamic information; this spans from ångströms to microns and beyond, and from picoseconds to microseconds, respectively. Applications in biology range from the analysis of individual hydrogen atoms in enzymes to the macro-scale analysis of biological complexes, membranes, and assemblies. The large differences in neutron scattering lengths between hydrogen and deuterium allow contrast variation experiments to be performed and enable H/D isotopic labeling to be used for selective and systematic analysis of the local structure, dynamics and interactions of multi-component systems.

Examples of neutron methods to be included in this collection include (1) deuterium Isotope labeling; (2) small-angle scattering; (3) diffraction; (4) reflectometry, imaging; (5) neutron spin echo; and (6) inelastic scattering.