Intrinsically disordered proteins: A conversation with Rohit Pappu

For 100 years, the dogma has been that amino-acid sequences determine protein folding and that the folded structure determines the protein’s function. But as a Washington University in St. Louis engineer explains in the  Sept. 20 issue of Science, a large class of proteins doesn’t adhere to the structure-function paradigm. Called intrinsically disordered proteins, these proteins fail fold either in whole or in part and yet they are functional.

Center for Biological Systems Engineering kicks off with symposium

Researchers from the new interdisciplinary Center for Biological Systems Engineering at Washington University will host its inaugural symposium, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, from 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in Whitaker Hall, Room 100. Rohit V. Pappu, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering, directs the new center. Lockheed Martin is sponsoring the symposium.