~PDB & Rasmol~

Assalamualaikum :)

We meet again!

Today, Madam Linda introduced to the class two new things that seemed very alien-like to us CTS students. 

PDB and RasMol. 

Yes. Together we wonder what these two could possibly mean. 

Actually, PDB stands for Protein Data Bank; a repository for the 3-D structural data of large biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids.The PDB is overseen by an organization called the Worldwide Protein Data Bank, wwPDB.

The PDB database is updated weekly, mind you, and as of 6 March 2012, the breakdown of current holdings is as follows :) 

Experimental Method	Proteins	Nucleic Acids	Protein/Nucleic Acid complexes	Other	Total
X-ray diffraction	65361	1343	3215	2	69921
NMR	8148	970	186	7	9311
Electron microscopy	283	22	104	0	409
Hybrid	42	3	2	1	48
Other	140	4	5	13	162
Total:	73974	2342	3512	23	79851

Credit to the amazing wikipedia for such useful and quick information. 

But what is RasMol? 

   RasMol is a computer program written for molecular graphics visualization intended and used primarily for the depiction and exploration of biological macromolecule structures, such as those found in the Protein Data Bank mentioned above.

Historically, it was an important tool for molecular biologists since the extremely optimized program allowed the software to run on (then) modestly powerful personal computers.

RasMol is free, (wow) , so here's the link for free downloading: Click me!

Both of PDB and RasMol contributes largely to the development of science in our world. :D

In our last class, we made use of RasMol and came up with some pictures of protein :)

The first one is... Collagenase!

And below is subtilisin: 

Thirdly, kexin: 

Last but not least, signal peptidase: 

So we've come to the end of another post. 

Till we meet again!

:D

Assalamualaikum