The Synaptic Leap

Structural genomics aims to structurally characterize most protein sequences by an efficient combination of experiment and modeling. Central to the success of these efforts is effective target selection. There are a variety of target selection schemes, ranging from focusing on only novel folds to selecting all proteins in a model genome. Many of the target selection strategies of the Structural Genomic Consortiums are biologically based, providing a set of protein targets that are key actors in an interesting biological process. This project aims to provide a flexible tool for general target selection (in this case of Structural Genomics) based on collective knowledge. TDI registered users can vote for genes/proteins that may be promissing candidates for structural determination. The aim of the project is to generate a list of target proteins, which structure may help the advance of drug discovery for malaria. Dr. Raymond Hui, from the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, and Dr Marc A. Marti-Renom, a computational bioligist, from UCSF, will analyze the gene the community voted on to have the highest potential. Results from that analysis will be posted here as well as open-access databases such as PlasmoDB. To contribute to the project you need to login with TSL. We intend to release this project in the early month of 2006.