Crystals, X-rays, and the mechanisms of life

For the last 100 years, information contained in crystals is used by biologists and biochemists to uncover the structures and functions of the most crucial components of living organisms : proteins, DNA and RNA. The method, X-ray crystallography, uses the diffraction of X-rays from crystals of such giant molecules, in order to determine the 3-dimensional shapes of these molecules, atom-by-atom. In this talk, I will highlight some episodes of the history of crystallography, and describe some of its basic principles. We will then see a couple of examples of the most important type of application of the knowledge obtained, which is the design of new drugs against major diseases.

Speaker

Dr Emmanuel Saridakis

LE STUDIUM / MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE RESEARCH FELLOW

FROM : Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Centre for Scientific Research ‘DEMOKRITOS’, Athens - GR

IN RESIDENCE AT: Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire - CBM (CNRS), Orléans - FR