• From the remote location, a user can get X-ray crystal diffraction data via home delivery service
• Making a contract with the user including the duty clause for secret protection will ensure the secrecy of sample information, and the service will be applicable for corporate products under developmental process
• The service is set forth by the joint management of SPring-8 and private incorporations for the purpose of expansion of user number to SPring-8

The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Independent Administrative Corporation, (President, Ryoji Noyori) and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), Foundation Corporation, (Director General, Akira Kira) will set forth "Protein crystals mail-in data collection service, simply called mail-in data collection service" on July, 2006, utilizing the high-performance synchrotron radiation facility, SPring-8. This service is put into practice for replying to the requests from many users, who are interested in the structural analysis of biogenic polymers inevitable to research and develop drugs and/or to survey unknown chemicals and risky substance in environment, charging operation cost to the user.

Hitherto, SPring-8 users had to come over to the facility and collected the diffraction data by-themselves. Many claims from users were boosted about the previous service, complaining the need for travel to the place and necessity to learn beam-line manipulation before use. That is why we start "mail-in data collection service" in view points of user's convenience and the efficacy of experiments.

This service supports the crystal data collection by the beam-line expert operator in SPring-8, instead of user himself, for crystalline protein sent from the user via the cooperative private corporations such as Carna Bioscience Inc., Sosho Inc., Takeda-rika Inc., Nacalai tesque Inc., and PharmAxess Inc. Through the processing, a user receives the collected X-ray diffraction data obtained with SPring-8, the world's highest precision synchrotron radiation, while staying at his laboratory.

It is not asked to disclose any amount of information about crystalline protein sample except for the several that are required for confirmation of the sample safety. In addition, the user holds the primary priority to occupy all the outputs like applying the patent right, from the data based on "mail-in data collection service," and, thus, can execute the research and development of the product without leakage risk of "know-how of the sample."