Carbon Nanotubes as Diffraction Microscopy Mounts

Consider the possibility of using carbon nanotubes as a sample mount for individual biomolecules in a diffraction microscopy apparatus. You should consider this question in the context of developing a generalpurpose method to replace the huge efforts currently employed in structural biology. For example, can you think of a way to make arbitrary proteins stick to a nanotube (at some low linear density)? Will there be problems getting the molecule-coated nanotube into the high vacuum environment of the electron microscope? Can the nanotube be rotated in order to obtain multiple views, or should one translate the tube along its length and thereby expose other molecules, with different orientations, to the beam? Please consider some of these practical issues and of course any others that occur to you. If it looks like this proposal has serious problems you are only expected to bring them to light, not solve them!