Deciphering Proteins

First came the Human Genome Project, with its map of the 30,000 genes that control the human body's molecular machinery. Now scientists, including a Dartmouth professor, are working to delineate the human "proteome," the 1 to 2 million proteins that carry out the bidding of genes. "To understand what genes do, we have to understand what proteins do," says Bruce Donald, a professor of computer science and chemistry who has received a Guggenheim Fellowship to develop computer algorithms for studying the structure and function of proteins.

Each protein consists of a long string of amino acid molecules. But because the strand twists, loops and coils like a tangled ribbon, interpreting the structure of a single protein through conventional laboratory techniques can take two years and up to $2 million. Donald is developing new computational and experi mental methods that will accelerate the process—and slash its cost.

Donald s work will help researchers develop precisely targeted medicines. "To design drugs rationally you need to know protein structures," he says.

But don't look for a complete picture of the human proteome any time soon. Even with computer automation, the protein map won't be ready until at least 2015, according to Donald.

Contributors:jim Donnelly, Roxanne Khamsi '02and Laura Tepper '02