What is Structural Biology?
Structural biology is a field of the sciences which is concerned with the physical structure of macromolecules, literally “large molecules.” Macromolecules are of immense biological importance, playing a role in everything from passing on genetic inheritance to modulating immune system responses, and understanding how these molecules form can help researchers learn more about how they work. Biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics are all involved in structural biology. Macromolecules form through a process known as polymerization, in which simple molecules known as monomers are assembled to create a larger three dimensional structure. The shape of the structure determines how it will work, and small variations in shape or composition can radically alter the functions of a macromolecule. Structural biologists look at how polymerization occurs, and what happens when errors emerge. They also connect errors with real-world problems, such as cancers which form when DNA is damaged, o
Structural Biology can be defined as the study of the structure and the structure-function relationships of biologically important molecules and macromolecular complexes. It lies at the interfaces between biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering, and focuses on understanding the structures of complex macromolecules from living organisms. Accordingly, a number of disciplines and techniques are currently being employed towards achieving these goals: x-ray crystallography, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), computational biology and chemistry, various laser-based spectroscopic techniques, protein expression, synthetic chemistry and chemical engineering.
Structural biology is the study of the three-dimensional shape assumed by biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. The structure of a protein is intrinsic to the way it functions and knowledge of this gives researchers a better understanding of how a protein accomplishes its function, as well as how it might be related to other proteins. Besides contributing to scientific understanding, practical applications of protein structural data allows us to understand how protein structure contributes to some diseases, and has created a new method of drug discovery known as structure guided drug design. The increase in computer power over the last 20 years has made structural studies of biological and chemical molecules accessible to scientists in a wide array of fields, leading to an explosion in the quantity and quality of structures. Our lab uses X-ray crystallography to study Alzheimer’s disease, malaria, SARS and tuberculosis. Please click here to read more about our r
