Structural biology is the research on the structure and function of biological molecules, biomolecular assemblies and complexes using physico-chemical, molecular biological and computational methods. Structural biology has implictions in almost every aspect of cell biology and is revolutionising approaches to many broader biological questions. Increasing numbers of biological researchers are integrating structural analysis as one component of their scientific approach. However, such analyses require access to both a range of expensive equipment and considerable expertise across a large number of methods.

Structural biology is central in many areas of research and development in the pharmaceutical sector – and will play an increasing role in the food, agricultural and other biotechnology industries.

Structural genomics is a new and rapidly developing field in biology. The goal of this field is to discover and analyze the structures of all protein molecules in nature in order to provide a foundation for a fundamental understanding of biology. Consortium researchers have been leaders in the national and international effort to develop ideas for this field and to engage the worldwide biological community in discussing and advancing the field. Structural genomics is closely tied to functional genomics, the identification of functions of all proteins in nature, and to genomic sequencing, the determination of the genetic blueprints of all organisms. Together these fields will revolutionize biology over the next two decades.

To accomplish this we will develop scaleable technologies that will make structural genomics feasible. Further, we will demonstrate a Consortium approach to structural genomics that allows a world-wide effort to be devoted to a defined set of structural targets.

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