The Science Behind Rosetta@Home, An Introduction To Protein Folding

From Unofficial BOINC Wiki

[edit] General

So, here are the big-picture ideas I would 'highlight' if I were studying this for our discussion:

• Proteins are amino acid chains that fold into unique 3-dimensional structures.
• The shape into which a protein naturally folds ... is determined by its sequence of amino acids.
• The mechanism of protein folding is not entirely understood.
• Proteins are involved in practically every function performed by a cell...involv[ing] a protein's shape or concentration.
• Proteins are generally large molecules...

Weird, huh. Big molecules that 'fold' into some 3D shape, determined by the makeup of the chain. And this 'shape' is important in all sorts of things in cells. On top of that how these molecules fold isn't too clear (I smell science!).