ENGINEERING
ORNL Unlocks Secrets of Proteins
Scientists are using an instrument at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor to discover how a key binding protein protects our DNA double helix.
This special Replication Protein, or RPA, is critical to keeping our hereditary information intact, which allows geneticists to track diseases that may be passed from one generation to another. RPA keeps the single DNA strands untangled and also prevents attacks by enzymes that can break up the DNA and render the code indecipherable.
Little is known about how RPA molecules perform these complex roles, but using the CG-3 Bio SANS instrument as part of a multi-pronged approach – neutron scattering, X-ray scattering and computational simulation – scientists hope to develop many answers.
This special Replication Protein, or RPA, is critical to keeping our hereditary information intact, which allows geneticists to track diseases that may be passed from one generation to another. RPA keeps the single DNA strands untangled and also prevents attacks by enzymes that can break up the DNA and render the code indecipherable.
Little is known about how RPA molecules perform these complex roles, but using the CG-3 Bio SANS instrument as part of a multi-pronged approach – neutron scattering, X-ray scattering and computational simulation – scientists hope to develop many answers.