Doug Rosenthal on Structural Biology
Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics that studies the structure of biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids, the origin of this structure, and its relationship to the biological function of macromolecules. Obtaining protein structures is a clearly interdisciplinary area of knowledge that requires the joint and synergistic work of doctors, biochemists, biologists, physicists and computer scientists in pursuit of a common goal and which is in an incipient development in the region. Through his work, Cleveland-based structural biologist Doug Rosenthal is hoping to transmit the necessary tools to obtain and purify proteins, their subsequent crystallization and structural resolution, together with the possible utilities of the obtained structure. For this, one has to possess basic knowledge of complementary techniques such as computational simulation, bioinformatics methods, and drug-protein systems. As structural biologists navigate the twenty-first century in these two seemingly opposite directions, they will later find themselves on the other side of the sphere and realize that their knowledge of the functioning and operation of living things will be far superior to what we have nowadays. They will be able to study in space and time the microstructure (the internal order, the regularities, the interactions between the molecular pieces) and the movement of the component molecules (ions, proteins, lipids, etc.) that will allow them to better understand how they work. They will be able to study the parts and circulation (flows) of chemical elements and compounds within organisms. This will lead to a much more rigorous systems biology. In addition to his research work, Doug Rosenthal also uses pictures of cells from high-powered microscopes for his studies. Also, Rosenthal relies on molecular structures from electron microscopy (EM), x-ray crystallography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. These photos show how crowded and complex the world of cells is and also the microbes that infect them. This artist scientist has sculpted on a macroscopic scale, using a variety of materials, the advances in molecular structural biology in his works. A few years ago, Doug Rosenthal made an artistic-sculptural representation (Heart of Steel, 2005) of hemoglobin. Recently, he has completed the sculpture (Birth of an Idea, 2007) of the potassium cell channel (KcsA) representing another milestone in modern structural biology. Doug Rosenthal is also working on a large stainless steel sculpture for the new Scripps Institute in Ohia based on the molecular antibody.