Ribosomes catalyze all cellular protein synthesis and thus are involved in the final stages of gene expression. The ribosome is a macromolecular complex containing three ribonucleic acid molecules and more than 70 proteins. Culver and her research group investigate the process by which all of these components specifically associate with each other to form a functional unit. Culver says it's a good thing the results have been so encouraging. Those results need to carry you through many failed attempts and lots of repetition.
Good results are sometimes few and far between.
I have been very lucky so far. During her post-doc work, she became involved with ribosome structure and discovered a new function for the ribsomal protein S15. When she came to Iowa State she moved her research onto ribosome assembly. But she is still looking at ribosomal protein S15, work that is funded by the American Cancer Society grant. We don't know how it does these things or how these functions really influence cell physiology.