Each graceful fold and twist is a molecular key that establishes interactions the protein will have with other molecules, and thus, its function. By figuring out how proteins take shape, researchers hope to unveil their functions.
Proteins are huge molecules with thousands of atoms with at least as many molecular interactions.
As important as understanding the basic units of life. The development of a protein begins when DNA is transcribed into amino acid sequences. These sequences consist of 20 types of amino acids strung together in a chain-like structure. Baker and colleagues, notably graduate student Kim Simons, recently returned from a meeting at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, Calif., called CASP3, in which they were ranked among the highest groups in the world at interpreting amino acid sequences and predicting their 3-D structures. Earlier this year, a CASP3 organizing group released amino acid sequences for a number of proteins whose structures were in the process of being determined using X-ray crystallography.