The Over-expression, Purification, and Crystallization of Proteins
Protein folding is an important mechanism in living organisms. Observing protein structure at an atomic level allows to develop better understanding of different protein associated-diseases as well as their protein of interest, resulting in efficient drug discovery. Given the fact that the innumerable possibility to fold with a vast number of amino acids, determining a proper protein structure is still challenging.
The experiments implemented throughout this summer is for an online game as well as educational tool called Foldit. Proteins we purify can be added into this game for more precise structures that players can fold. This game allows players, people, and students from all over the world to participate in research from home. The game takes advantage of human puzzle solving intuition to fold protein for them.