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BIOLOGY
Deciphering Nature's Assembly Manuals
Now that a working draft of the human genome has been created, scientists are busy identifying the genes within the sequences of those 3 billion DNA base pairs of nucleotides. The complete genomes of many other organisms—from microbes to plants to animals—are also available, with new genomes being completed every week. Scientists are now facing the opportunity to understand not just the human body but the fundamental processes of life itself.
Once a gene’s boundaries have been established, the next steps are to determine the structures of the proteins encoded in the gene, then to determine the functions of those proteins. NERSC users and collaborators are developing innovative computational tools to help determine protein structures and functions, as described in this section. These tools bring us closer to the goal of utilizing genomic discoveries to improve human health and to protect and restore the environment.