Crystal clear: crystal breeding factory uncovered

A breakthrough in understanding the way in which crystals develop will have a major impact for the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries. Lancaster University chemists in collaboration with international colleagues have uncovered a 'Crystal Nuclei Breeding Factory' which, they say, will lead to a more effective and efficient development of quality chemical products. "Industrial crystallisation is a big, expensive business," explains Professor Jamshed Anwar, from Lancaster University's Chemistry Department. "Crystal 'seeds' (very small crystals) are added to the process to act as a 'template' to ensure more of the same shape and size of crystals are produced." "The rule of the garden is..if you sow a single seed you should get a single plant. However with crystals, a single seed causes thousands of new crystals to form, almost as if 'breeding' is taking place. How this happens has never been understood. It's been a big question and it's fundamental." Previous experiments to understand the issue have been inconsequential as microscopes are just not strong enough to determine what the molecules are actually doing.