SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY "These are still just snapshots," Frank emphasized. "They must be used hand in hand with other methods—including ki netics, fluorescence methods, and molec ular dynamics simulations—to see what happens in between." As an example, Frank presented a 2-nanosecond molecular dy namics simulation of a bacterial ribosome that predicts what happens between the last two decoding snapshots. Performed by Kevin Y. Sanbonmatsu of Los Alamos Na tional Laboratory, the simulation reveals previously unknown details of the process.
BIOPHYSICS BONANZA Meeting highlights use of )f biophysical approaches in areas ranging from cell 11biology biologytotoglycobiology glycobiology AMANDA YARNELL, C&EN WASHINGTTON
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OR MOST OF US, VALENTINE'S DAY
conjures images of roses, choco late, or a candlelit dinner for two. In place of such traditional Valen tine fare, attendees of this year's Biophysical Society meeting were treated to five full days of biophysics. Nearly 6,000 scientists descended on Long Beach, Calif., for the 49th annual meeting. From Feb. 12 to 16, they enjoyed more than 3,200 posters and short talks in addition to more than 15 symposia. In this year's program, a variety of top ics not included in previous meetings called attention to the increasing use of quanti tative biophysical approaches to advance the understanding of fundamental biolog ical phenomena. As the following highlights demonstrate, plenty of offerings were of in terest to chemists, including the debut of new structural techniques and the discov ery of new reagents for glycobiology
Ribosome Hits Hollywood The ribosome—the complex molecular ma chine that carries out the synthesis of pro teins in cells—may soon be a star. Joachim Frank, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the Wadsworth Center in Al bany Ν. Υ, has captured a handful of images of the ribosome at different stages of pro tein synthesis. Next, he wants to make a movie from those snapshots. The ribosome is an enzyme made up of dozens of proteins and some RNAs. It us es the genetic instructions encoded in mes senger RNA (mRNA) to string together amino acids to form polypeptides, which then fold to give proteins. A family of twoheaded molecules known as transfer RNAs (tRNAs) helps the ribosome decode the m R N A instructions by delivering the amino acid called for by each three-nucleotide code word in the mRNA. X-ray crystallographic studies of the ri bosome alone have revealed the precise chemical details of the active site where such decoding takes place. So far, these studies have revealed little about the dy namics of this process or the manner in which the ribosome ensures that the right HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
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Vision's First Step
