In his talk, Professor Jason Schnell explores the complex mechanisms driving structural biology. Contextualising his work, he highlights the field’s intersection with other specialisms such as genetics, cell biology and immunology. He then focuses more specifically on the building blocks of life, outlining how genetic code is transferred into proteins via the Central Dogma. Through this process amino acid sequences are converted into protein structures which then serve distinct functions. In order to illustrate this, Professor Schnell then situates this within his own research assessing the protein structures of the influenza virus. As part of this research, Professor Schnell and his colleagues have assessed the role of the crystal-like M1 structure found within the influenza virus. Interestingly, these findings suggest that the M1 structure may aid the process of protein polymerization, with exciting for our understanding of information flow within a cell.
Did you enjoy watching this lecture? Explore more about this topic and the other taster lectures from this Session in our Further Reading Booklet.