Blueprint Develops ProteoGlyphs: a Visual Language to Describe Biomolecular Structure

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 14 Jun 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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Every day, humans use symbols to communicate complex information. In a written language, curved lines form letters, which can be combined into constructs that represent spoken sounds. Similarly, in modern biology, ontology and structure initiatives have converted lengthy descriptions of biomolecular function and form into information-dense whorls and lines that can be strung together to describe the complexity of a cell.

Leading this charge, The Blueprint Initiative Asia Pte. Ltd. today released a new biomolecular language-ProteoGlyphs-that describes conserved protein domains and provides researchers with visual clues to the structure of proteins involved in myriad metabolic pathways. Because structure plays such a vital role in protein function, the new tool offers scientists a better understanding of how these pathways work.

This knowledge is critical to understanding human disease and how to treat it.

Randall C Willis
Tel: 416-596-6266
e-Mail: rwillis@blueprint.org
http://www.blueprint.org