Structural Biology Gets a $150 Million Boost

Abstract

Structural biology got a shot in the arm this week. The U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) selected seven centers to be the initial test-beds for structural genomics, a field that aims to work out the structures of large numbers of proteins using robotics and advanced computers. The 5-year, $150 million program is intended to speed up the determination of three-dimensional, atomic-scale maps of proteins, which in turn should accelerate discovery of new drugs by giving pharmaceutical companies a closeup look at the proteins they are trying to target.