This booklet explains how structural biology provides insight into health and disease and is useful in developing new medications. The booklet features "Student Snapshots" designed to inspire young people to consider careers in biomedical research. It also includes review questions at the end of each chapter.

Preface: Why Structure?

Imagine that you are a scientist probing the secrets of living systems not with a scalpel or microscope, but much deeper—at the level of single molecules, the building blocks of life. You’ll focus on the detailed, three-dimensional structure of biological molecules. You’ll create intricate models of these molecules using sophisticated computer graphics.

You may be the first person to see the shape of a molecule involved in health or disease. You are part of the growing field of structural biology.The molecules whose shapes most tantalize structural biologists are proteins, because these molecules do most of the work in the body.

Like many everyday objects, proteins are shaped to get their job done. The structure of a protein offers clues about the role it plays in the body. It may also hold the key to developing new medicines, materials, or diagnostic procedures.

In Chapter 1, you’ll learn more about these “structures of life” and their role in the structure and function of all living things. In Chapters 2 and 3, you’ll learn about the tools—X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy—that structural biologists use to study the detailed shapes of proteins and other biological molecules.

Much of the research described in this booklet is supported by U.S. tax dollars, specifically those awarded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to scientists at universities across the nation. NIGMS supports more structural biology than any other private or government agency in the world.

NIGMS is also unique among the components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in that its main goal is to support basic biomedical research that at first may not be linked to a specific disease or body part. These studies
increase our understanding of life’s most fundamental processes—what goes on at the molecular and cellular level—and the diseases that result when these processes malfunction.

Advances in such basic research often lead to many practical applications, including new scientific tools and techniques, and fresh approaches to diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease.

Alisa Zapp Machalek
Science Writer, NIGMS
November 2000

Download The Structures of Life

Pdf format, 8.6MB, 67pages. Published by NIGMS.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) supports basic biomedical research on genes, proteins, and cells. It also funds studies on fundamental processes such as how cells communicate, how our bodies use energy, and how we respond to medicines. The results of this research increase our understanding of life and lay the foundation for advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The Institute’s research training programs produce the next generation of biomedical scientists, and NIGMS has programs to encourage minorities underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral science to pursue research careers.

Visit The Structures of Life Official Website

Read full book online, or download the entire book in PDF version.

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