Since you want to think big, I would suggest as a challenge to solve the 3-D atomic structure of a human chromosome. Not the proteins encoded by the DNA, but the 3-D structure of an entire chromosome. Only about 1 percent of DNA codes for proteins. To understand gene regulation and what makes a human different from a mouse, understanding the 3-D organization of an entire chromosome will be necessary.
The first protein structure in 1958 (myoglobin) had about 1200 atoms. Now, about 60 years later we have the structure of the 70S ribosome (6ND5) with about 300000 atoms - about 250 times larger than myoglobin. Chromosomes are quite a bit larger, with about 8 billion atoms each - over 26000 times larger than the 70S ribosome. This won't be solved with X-ray crystallography, but perhaps with a trillion dollar cryo-em microscope / detector combined with other technologies it might. ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1
