Janet Smith Lab
We strive to illuminate biological functions at the molecular level through the discovery and analysis of three-dimensional structures of proteins.
Form determines function in biology, even at the level of individual molecules. The understanding of biological function derived from three-dimensional structures of key proteins is one of the most stunning outcomes of the molecular revolution in biology. The overall goal of our research is to understand biological function at the molecular level by uncovering and investigating these three-dimensional structures.
Our primary methods to determine structures of proteins and protein complexes are X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy. We have contributed to the development of new methods for rapid structure determination so that knowledge of key protein structures influences the study of biological problems early rather than retrospectively.
