In the last five years, researchers have published reports on the nucleotide sequences of several eukaryotic genomes. However, the functions of the majority of gene products from these genomes, including those from the human genome, are currently unknown. In 1999, a group of structural biologists called for a structural genomics initiative to determine the three-dimensional structure of all proteins expressed in the human genome using high-throughput crystallization techniques.2 In September 2000, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health sponsored a protein structure initiative to determine the three-dimensional structures of thousands of proteins within the decade.2
Like all such initiatives, the goal of the structural genomics initiative is information. Scientists engaged in structural genomics seek to extract useful information about the biological function of a macromolecule from its three-dimensional structure, which may yield important clues about the protein's biochemical function when compared to other ...
