On 14/11/2009, at 18.55, Ronald E Stenkamp wrote:
The rumblings here at the Univ. of Washington among the computational modelers is that some of their current models might be more representative of protein structures in solution than are the crystal structure models. It may take less than a "couple of decades" for a reduced emphasis on crystallographic studies.
Molecular models are the result of numbers emerging from computer programs. The results of such computations do not reflect anything in nature. There's no experimental evidence whatsoever, making modelling a very theoretical -- in my eyes uninteresting -- exercise.
For what it's worth, protein molecules in crystal structures, with typically > 50% solvent, are already "in solution" to the extent that protein molecules are ever "in solution" in their natural environment.
-- Morten
