We are in the process of developing one or more structural biology workshops, which are tailored to the aspirations of the pharma and biotech industries. Please get in touch with us for a discussion on how we might address your structural needs.

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Structure as a Tool for Pharmaceutical Scientists and Biotechnologists Workshop

 

Learning Objective
The workshop objective is to acquire a basic grounding in structural biology and molecular graphics software to provide a foundation for understanding the structural basis of macromolecular activity. Meeting this objective yields an empowering tool for R&D in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological sciences.

 

Content
Biologists of today are commonly faced with challenges that require an understanding of physics, chemistry, and/or computational biology, and indeed R&D in the industrial sector is especially interdisciplinary and is only becoming increasingly more so. To face the most challenging pharma/biotech endeavors of today, one must generally entertain multiple methodologies with the strongest coverage coming from addressing, for example, chemical, macromolecular, and cellular angles of a problem in unison. As such, the workshop is aimed at providing a platform for understanding 3-dimensional macromolecular structure and the relationship between the conformation of proteins/nucleic acids and the biological activities of recognition, transport, signaling, catalysis, etc. The emphasis is on the practice of structural biology, whereby utilizing computer graphics allows for a profound visualization of molecular function. 

Learning Outcome
1)    The scientist can visualize and analyze macromolecular structures using molecular graphics software (PyMOL).
2)    Given the known function of a macromolecule (protein, DNA, RNA, or protein-nucleic acid assembly), the scientist can conduct a 3D assessment of the structure to understand the conformational/chemical basis of its activity.