Proteins - From Structure to Function, from Biology to Physics

Zavodszky, Peter

When we contemplate the phenomena of the living world, we rarely think about proteins. However, behind the movement of our muscles, the fission of our cells, our thinking - our complex symptoms of life in general - we find the harmonised events of a molecular-level micro world. Here proteins play a leading role. We know quite a lot about these giant molecules and physics was of great assistance in defining their structure and explaining how they function.

The lecturer is seeking an answer to a question, namely, from where does the so clearly great difference between the living and inert world come? The chemical structure - polymer made of amino acids does not provide an answer. In fact, the key to the mystery is in the spatial structure. The polypeptide chain is capable of forming a compact structure which has an extremely varied, unique surface pattern - like a fingerprint.

The lecture discusses the question of self-organisation that is perhaps the most wonderful and decisive characteristic of polypeptide chains.
We meet the diverse, complex and amazing world of proteins and the role they play in the living world.
Finally, the lecture touches upon the fact that the details of the world of protein molecules would have been impossible to understand in depth without the application of quantum theory.

About the lecturer