Access Research NetworkA recent article in The Scientist showed the excitement of microbiologists over the complexity of the cell. The irreducible complexity and operation of the protein machines is astounding.
Much knowledge has been gleaned from a recent study, but considerable confusion persists. For example, the questions of how motors convert chemical energy into force, and the coordination of the motion is somewhat of a mystery.
Jeff Gelles, a biochemist who focuses on kinesin at Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass. says, "Biology is always more complicated than our simple models of it capture."
For instance, Dynein protein's motor domain is so complex that Steve Gross of the University of California, Irvine, wonders: "Why do you need this amazingly complicated structure for dynein?" Such behavior is unique, says Gross. "It's like the first four-speed bike in a world of one-speed bikes," observes Gross's coauthor, Steven King, University of Missouri, Kansas City.
There is also the question of how dynein knows where it is needed in the cell. There is a remarkable degree of regulation by other factors. The current perception is that we have only begun to break the surface on this problem.
Dietmar Manstein, director of the Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Hannover, Germany, indicates that biophysicists are ebullient. "People around me are really excited about what has been happening over the last 12 months, and all these new possibilities that are opening up. We don't know in every case what the application will be, but it's great fun to be doing it."
File Date: 5.20.04
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