Protein Structure, 1934-1984, as an International Dialogue: From theoretical debates to Interdisciplinary races

Abiram Pnina G, Belmont MA

Investigators

Abstract

Project Abstract SES 0136992 Protein Structure, 1934-1984 As An International Dialogue: From Theoretical Debates To Interdisciplinary Races. Pnina Abiram Independent Scholar This project traces the history of research on protein structure in the period between 1930-1980, as a major scientific problem in the 20 th Century, underlying not only the structural origins of molecular biology but also key aspects of biotechnology, most notably its most recent frontier in proteomics. The project documents in extensive archival detail three key stages of the international quest for protein structure: 1. The theoretical debates of the 1930s which cast the scientific problem of protein structure in the context of historical movements, most notably British socialism, communism, and anti-fascism; the intellectual migration forced by Nazism and totalitarianism in central Europe; and American philanthropy's efforts to contain social unrest during the Great Depression. The novel aspect of this phase pertains to its documentation of the crucial process of arbitration, conducted by a dozen scientists from US, UK, Scandinavia, Holland, France, Switzerland. The project explains the arbitrator's failure to contain the debate or accomplish a "sociopolitical partition of truth" among the three main contenders. 2. The competition over models in the early 1950s, culminating with the British model 1950 and the American model of 1951, the latter known as the alpha-helix. This competition captures the post-WW2 shift of political scenery (especially the Cold War atmosphere which led to denial of visas to key protein researchers to visit the US or the UK. The project further explains why this stage had major consequences for the subsequent overshadowing of protein structure by DNA structure as the hot topic in the rise of molecular biology. 3. The empirical races over full molecular solutions in the 1960s and 1970s (e.g. lysozyme solved in 1965 by a team at the Royal Institution; and ribonuclease, solved by teams at the Brooklyn Polytech and Birkbeck College, London. The project explains the role of large scale government funding and team research in molecular biology in the 1960s, as a prelude to current day scaling up into proteomics. This project provides a better understanding of international cooperation and competition over half a century, especially over the complex period divided by WW2. It also illuminates interdisciplinary research, a major feature of 20th Century science. Last, it explains proteomics, a current scientific frontier that goes beyond genomics into systematic research on the rational design of complex, megamolecular drugs.