protein folding problem
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Science:
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protein folding problem
One of the main unsolved problems in molecular biology, the protein folding problem deals with the question of predicting the three-dimensional shape of a protein molecule from the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein molecules. The main difficulty arises from the large number of interactions between different atoms in a protein molecule, a number that lies outside of the ability of modern computers to handle. (See also protein structure and proteomics.)
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Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Science
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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