Dear all, First of all, I would like to thanks James for this initiative and sparking this discussion in the community. There were many valid points raised by different people about the limitations of the current approaches in crystallization, interpretation of the structural data and the definition of terms involved like resolution, serial crystallography, and the relevance/reliability of the "structural information" in terms of its biological significance as gleaned from the crystal structures. One another point that was frequently highlighted in the thread by many that somehow an integrated approach using techniques like cryo-EM, spectroscopy and NMR could help overcome some of the limitations in the better understanding structures for understanding the functions of biological molecules.
@James My suggestion is that It would be a great service to all the community if suggestions and the points (even if they are divergent viewpoints) that comes out of this initiative could be published somewhere. In case you have already planning to do it, many thanks in advance. P.S. These type of discussions should also be part of other meetings and training schools like CCP4, CSHL, and Rapidata- Regards Manoj Saxena El mié., 17 jul. 2019 a las 15:54, Edward Snell (<esn...@hwi.buffalo.edu>) escribió: > /Lurk mode off > > Not to steal any of the thunder from James, but I would also point out > that those interested in the discussion are the perfect attendees for the > Gordon Research Conference next year - July 26th to 31st with a Gordon > Research Seminar for your students and postdocs - July 25th-26th - save the > date and consider attending. In my opinion, this is one of the best > meetings in this subject area. > > Also, from past experience, it would be really great if any vendors or > other organizations seeing this chain of emails would consider putting the > Conference or Seminar on their list for support in 2020. It really helps > bring in great speakers, start many new collaborations, and grow the field. > > Best, > > Eddie > > /Lurk mode on > > Edward Snell Ph.D. > > Biological Small Angle Scattering Theory and Practice, Eaton E. Lattman, > Thomas D. Grant, and Edward H. Snell. > Available through all good bookshops, or direct from Oxford University > Press > > Director of the NSF BioXFEL Science and Technology Center > President and CEO Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute > BioInnovations Chaired Professorship, University at Buffalo, SUNY > 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-1102 > hwi.buffalo.edu > Phone: (716) 898 8631 Fax: (716) 898 8660 > Skype: eddie.snell Email: esn...@hwi.buffalo.edu > Webpage: https://hwi.buffalo.edu/scientist-directory/snell/ > > Heisenberg was probably here! > > > -----Original Message----- > From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of > Holton, James M > Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 3:44 PM > To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: [ccp4bb] challenges in structural biology > > Hello folks, > > I have the distinct honor of chairing the next Gordon Research Conference > on Diffraction Methods in Structural Biology (July 26-31 2020). This > meeting will focus on the biggest challenges currently faced by structural > biologists, and I mean actual real-world challenges. As much as possible, > these challenges will take the form of friendly competitions with defined > parameters, data, a scoring system, and "winners", to be established along > with other unpublished results only at the meeting, as is tradition at GRCs. > > But what are the principle challenges in biological structure > determination today? I of course have my own ideas, but I feel like I'm > forgetting something. Obvious choices are: > 1) getting crystals to diffract better > 2) building models into low-resolution maps (after failing at #1) > 3) telling if a ligand is really there or not > 4) the phase problem (dealing with weak signal, twinning and > pseudotranslation) > 5) what does "resolution" really mean? > 6) why are macromolecular R factors so much higher than small-molecule > ones? > 7) what is the best way to process serial crystallography data? > 8) how should one deal with non-isomorphism in multi-crystal methods? > 9) what is the "structure" of something that won't sit still? > > What am I missing? Is industry facing different problems than academics? > Are there specific challenges facing electron-based techniques? If so, > could the combined strength of all the world's methods developers solve > them? I'm interested in hearing the voice of this community. On or > off-list is fine. > > -James Holton > MAD Scientist > > > ######################################################################## > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > ######################################################################## > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1
