Wolynes to deliver CAS Lecture today

Peter G. Wolynes, Center for Advanced Study professor of chemistry, physics
and biophysics, will deliver the annual Center for Advanced Study Lecture
today.

He will speak on "An Adventure in Biomolecular Codebreaking" at 8 p.m. at
the Tryon Festival Theater, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. 

"For more than 40 years, we have understood that biological information is
encoded in DNA. Genetic biotechnology has been based on the first part of
the genetic code that tells how a protein molecule is made, given the
information from the DNA. The second part of the genetic code is the topic
of my lecture," Wolynes said.

"When first formed, proteins are chain molecules that resemble spaghetti,
but they can only function when they have folded into an organized
crystal-like structure. The problem of understanding function starts with
the effort to understand how the three-dimensional structure of a protein
molecule is formed, given only the information in the sequence of that
molecule. This part of the decoding problem is known as the protein-folding
problem. Protein-folding is a spontaneous act of self-organization that can
be studied by the methods of theoretical physics and chemistry."

Wolynes will discuss the work of his research group toward the solution of
the protein-folding problem and how this "new view of protein folding" is
supported by recent computer simulations. He will illustrate the group's
progress on the practical part of decoding by discussing their predictions
of the structure of the protein receptor of the steroid hormones. This
protein receptor is involved in many medical problems such as breast cancer
and thyroid disease. That particular problem illustrates the interplay
between experimental and theoretical work and the way in which basic and
applied research are intertwined.

The Center for Advanced Study is a special unit of the Graduate College,
charged with encouraging creative achievement and scholarship. Appointment
to a professorship in the center is the highest recognition that the campus
can bestow upon a member of its faculty.