The problem is that there isn’t a good enough lens to make images of molecules with X-rays. But even if we could do that, there is an even more serious problem: unlike light, X-rays damage the molecules they hit. To see an individual molecule in sufficient detail, you would have to expose it to such a high dose of X-rays that you would end up destroying the molecule. In a crystal, however, the diffraction spots are the result of adding up the scattered X-rays from millions of molecules. The amplified signal from these millions of molecules means that you can get away with a much smaller dose
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