Zapping substances with electrons can quickly map chemical structures
This technique could speed drug development and aid forensic investigations
![chemical structure of thiostrepton](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/102618_CD_chemical-analysis_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
SPITTING IMAGE In just a day, researchers using a new technique to identify a substance’s chemical structure had mapped out the antibiotic thiostrepton (carbon atoms are gray; nitrogen, blue; oxygen, red; and sulfur, yellow). With current methods, that mapping could have taken months or years.
C.G. Jones et al/ChemRxiv.org 2018