This course will focus on the fundamental and technical background of methods used in chemical biology toward quantitative assay/interpretation of biological structures/events/ Importantly, case studies will be chosen from current literature to highlight applications of a given technique to address biological questions. For each major technique expected experimental information and subsequent interpretation will be discussed.

My section of the course focuses the technique of protein X-ray crystallography. We will begin by discussing general properties of crystal systems, space groups and symmetry. The practical aspects of how to identify conditions and grow X-ray diffraction quality crystals of proteins, how to improve their order and size, and how to diffract them will be covered. A field trip to the X-ray diffractometer in MWAH will be included. Finally, we will review the basics of solving a structure, with a presentation of readily available freeware focusing on the molecular replacement method.

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