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International
Tables for Crystallography Volume F Crystallography of biological macromolecules Edited by M. G. Rossman and E. Arnold © International Union of Crystallography 2006 |
International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. F. ch. 18.1, p. 374
Section 18.1.10. Conclusion
a
San Diego Supercomputer Center 0505, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0505, USA, and bStructural, Analytical and Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc., Kalamazoo, MI 49001-0119, USA |
It is always important to bear in mind that macromolecular crystal structures are models intended to explain a particular set of observations. Statistical measures can determine how well the model explains the observations, but cannot say whether the model is true or not. The distinction between precision and accuracy must always be kept in mind. The objective should not be simply to obtain the best fit of a model to the data, but, in addition, to find all of the ways in which a model does not fit the data and correct them. Until the day when all crystals diffract to atomic resolution, the primary objective of refinement of the models will be to determine just how well the structures are or are not determined.
