Structural biology: a century-long journey into an unseen world
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Curry, S
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
© Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining 2015.When the first atomic structures of salt crystals were determined by the Braggs in 1912–1913, the analytical power of X-ray crystallography was immediately evident. Within a few decades the technique was being applied to the more complex molecules of chemistry and biology and is rightly regarded as the foundation stone of structural biology, a field that emerged in the 1950s when X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the atomic architecture of DNA and protein molecules. Since then the toolbox of structural biology has been augmented by other physical techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and solution scattering of X-rays and neutrons. Together these have transformed our understanding of the molecular basis of life. Here I review the major and most recent developments in structural biology that have brought us to the threshold of a landscape of astonishing molecular complexity.
Date Issued
2015-11-27
Date Acceptance
2015-11-27
Citation
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 2015, 40 (3), pp.308-328
ISSN
0308-0188
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Start Page
308
End Page
328
Journal / Book Title
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews
Volume
40
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining 2015. Open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0
License URL
Subjects
Science Studies
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published