Today on MSL-1
we highlight the biotechnology research being done in space through the
growth of high-quality protein crystals. There are over 300,000 proteins
in your body, helping you to perform essential functions of life. However,
we know the exact structure of less than 1% of these proteins. Knowledge
of the proteins' structures is very important to our everyday lives, as
many diseases involve proteins, either directly or indirectly. By learning
how these proteins are put together, we gain critical insight into how they
function, and how we might best use their existing structure to manipulate
their functions in the body for better health.
Three Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiments,
each focusing on growing high-quality crystals of a variety of proteins,
will be conducted aboard MSL­1. The differences between these experiments
is the manner in which these crystals are grown.
You'll hear these experiments referred to by their acronyms during the mission on NASA-TV and elsewhere. Despite their formidable names, the goal of each of these experiments is to grow the highest-quality crystals possible during the 16-day MSL-1 mission.
Perhaps surprisingly, the high-quality crystals themselves are not the final goal of the protein crystal growth experiments. It's the information that they provide. Once we have that critical information, the crystals have done their job. When the crystals return from space, we subject them to a process known as "X-ray Crystallography." In this process, we bombard the crystals with X-rays to learn the position of each atom in the crystal, thereby decoding the protein's atomic structure. The structure or "blueprint" of the protein is the key information that we cannot normally gain from poor-quality crystals grown on the ground.
Learn more about 
we grow protein
crystals in space!!!
What can't you do? The structure of a protein is the "master key" to how it functions in the human body. Just as the blueprint of a building tells you everything about how the building is put together, how it works, where the utilities are, and other important information, the knowledge of a protein's three dimensional structure is the most complete picture one can obtain for how the protein works.
Once the structure of a particular protein is known, it becomes much easier to think about how one might modify its activity in the human body - like knowing the details of a lock makes the design of its key much easier.
In the past, effective disease fighting agents were discovered largely by trial and error. This required literally tens of thousands of trials before a chemical with the desired biological activity was discovered. Now, however, with a blueprint of a particular protein, and a more complete knowledge of just how that protein operates, we can attack the problems of disease systematically.
Check out
we grow protein crystals in space!
Grow
your own crystals with the experiment in the MSL-1 Ground Cyber-Laboratory!
June 19, 1997
Author: Dr.
John Horack
Curator:Linda Porter
NASA Official: Gregory
S. Wilson
