• Question: what do you find so interesting about the structure of proteins?

    Asked by isabelle to Seyyed on 12 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by trollolol, goose.
    • Photo: Seyyed Shah

      Seyyed Shah answered on 12 Jun 2012:

      Protein structures are so beautiful to look at. In their shapes and organisation, there are often repeated patterns.

      Each protein is made from simpler building blocks called amino acids which are joined together. There are different types of amino acids, which can be a joined in many different orders. The order of amino acids will determine the shape of the protein. The shape of a protein will determine what function it performs.

      If we change one amino acid in a protein, it could stop the protein from working. This can be caused by mutations which can lead to diseases. So, understanding the structure of proteins will tell us about how mutations can cause disease. This is why many scientists like myself are interested in proteins.

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