Enzymes Make the World Go 'Round

"The biochemist's word may not be the last in the description of life, but without his help, the last word will never be said."

–Sir Frederick G. Hopkins, 1931.¹

The biological revolution unleashed by the sequencing of the human genome continues unabated into 2004. With multitudinous comparative genomics, haplotype mapping, transcriptomics, and systems biology projects in full flood, the trickiest challenge remains proteomics. Since proteins form the basis of most biological structures and mechanisms, proteomics is of special interest.

Not that spectacular advances have been lacking; one marvel to emerge in the last few years is the protein interaction map. A recently published map² for Drosophila details a series of complex diagrams showing the association, including familial relationships, location, and binding partners, among the fruit fly's thousands of different proteins. The work has reconfirmed the elements of many known pathways while extending others, revealing novel components. Similar maps...