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PROTEIN DATA BANKAND

50 YEARS OF

MOLECULAR STRUCTURESThe Protein Data Bank (PDB) was established in1971 as the 1st open access digital data resource
in all of biology and medicine. Today, it is central
to scientific discovery and teaching, and provides
validated information and analysis tools to thenation’s researchers, policy makers, federal,state, and local health authorities, andelected representatives.

PDB HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS

Structural biology as ascientific discipline wasborn in 1958 withSir John Kendrew’s groundbreaking atomic level threedimensional (3D) structureof myoglobin, the protein
responsible for storing
oxygen in our muscles
and making it available
whenever we needto move.

By the early 1970’s, researchers
had produced more than a dozen 3D
structures of other biologically andmedically important proteins. They
found themselves sitting on a goldmineof information that was very difficult
to share in the pre-internet era. The
computer files for these structures werehuge, and extremely challenging forindividual structural biologists to sharewith many thousands of interested
researchers around the globe.

Creation of the open-access
PDB archive in 1971 solved
this problem. Depositors
freely contribute their
computer files to the PDB,
which in turns distributes
them to interested users
without cost and without
limitations on usage.

As PDB enters 2021,
the archive contains andsupports online accessto >175,000 of
biomacromolecular structures
determined via macromolecular
crystallography, Nuclear
Magnetic Resonancespectroscopy, and 3D
Electron Microscopy byresearchers from aroundthe world.

EVENTS AND RESOURCES
ARE BEING PLANNED FOR
2021 TO CELEBRATE THISLANDMARK RESOURCE.

VISIT WWPDB.ORG/PDB50
AND RCSB.ORG/PDB50FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION

Myoglobin (left) and Lysozyme (right) belong to the early structures revealed by X-ray
crystallography. Illustrations by Irving Geis.
Used with permission from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (www.hhmi.org). All rights reserved.

Molecular illustrations from the Molecule of theMonth features available on PDB-101(pdb101.rcsb.org)

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info@rcsb.org

PROTEIN DATA BANK:CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF
ENABLING BREAKTHROUGHSIN RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONPDB ARCHIVE:>175,000 STRUCTURES OF PROTEINS, DNA, AND RNA■■ Grows at the rate of nearly 10% per year■■ Used to download > 2 million structure data files per day■■ Manages “Big Data” as global Public GoodPDB STRUCTURES:■■ Enable research in subject areas from Agriculture to Zoology■■ Contributed data to >1 million published research papers

The PDB archive
is managed by theWorldwide Protein Data
Bank (wwPDB), a consortium of organizations thatact as deposition, data processing, and distribution
centers in America (RCSB PDB), Europe (PDBe),and Asia (PDBj).
Through RCSB.org, RCSB PDB provides accessto the PDB data along with tools for search,visualization, and analysis. Structural data onRCSB.org are also enriched through integration ofrelated information from other scientific resources.
PDB-101 maintains educational resources forstudents and non-experts (pdb101.rcsb.org).

PEOPLE BEHIND THE PDB
An international collaboration of scientists and educators
work behind the scenes, carefully curating data anddeveloping tools to facilitate use of these important data.

■■ Used by >400 biological data resources* As of October 2020

THE COST TO REPLICATE THE CONTENTS OF THE PDBARCHIVE IS ESTIMATED AT $18 BILLIONRCSB.ORG AND PDB DATA IMPACT:
Each year, RCSB.org serves millions of researchers, scientists,educators, students, curious public, medical professionals,patients, patient advocates as well as pharmaceutical andbiotechnology companies heavily impacting:■■ Basic and applied research■■ Patent applications■■ Discovery of lifesaving drugs■■ Innovations that can lead to new product development
and company formation■■ STEAM education: PDB-101 provides curricula and online
tools for teachers and students
IN SUPPORTING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION,RCSB PDB GENERATES RETURN ON INVESTMENT
OF ~1,500 TIMES FEDERAL FUNDINGRCSB PDB is managed byThe RCSB PDB is funded by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy,
and the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, andNational Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

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