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From the first protein structures to our current knowledge of protein folding: delights and scepticisms

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 9, pages 650–654 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Every breakthrough that opens new vistas also removes the ground from under the feet of other scientists. The scientific joy of those who have seen the new light is accompanied by the dismay of those whose way of life has been changed for ever. The publication of the first structures of proteins at atomic resolution 50 years ago astounded and inspired scientists in every field, but caused others to flee or scoff. That advance and every subsequent paradigm-shifting breakthrough in protein science have met with some resistance before universal acceptance. I relate these events and their impact on the field of protein folding.

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Figure 1: Three-dimensional structure of myoglobin.
Figure 2: Max Perutz and John Kendrew.
Figure 3: The pathway of folding of the Engrailed homeodomain of Drosophila melanogaster.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the Medical Research Council for 40 years of funding, without which this article would not have been written.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alan Fersht is the Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK, and is the Director of the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering, MRC Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK. arf25@cam.ac.uk,

    Alan R. Fersht

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Fersht, A. From the first protein structures to our current knowledge of protein folding: delights and scepticisms. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9, 650–654 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2446

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