Molecular Embodiments and the Body-work of Modeling in Protein Crystallography
Molecular Embodiments and the Body-work of Modeling in Protein Crystallography
复制标题
蛋白质晶体学中的分子实施方式和建模的主体工作
DOI：
10.1177/0306312707082969
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发表时间：
2008
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Natasha Myers
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Natasha Myers
蛋白质分子是后基因组学研究中日益受到关注和投资的对象，是由数千个原子组成的复杂的三维结构。蛋白质晶体学家利用 X 射线衍射技术构建蛋白质的原子分辨率模型。这项蛋白质晶体学的人种学研究表明，成为一名晶体学家专家并理解如此复杂的物体，需要研究人员利用他们的身体作为学习、处理和交流精确分子结构的资源。当代晶体学建模高度依赖于交互式计算机图形技术，并且需要在通常艰巨的模型构建过程中对屏幕上的模型进行主动且长时间的处理和操作。本文以当代蛋白质晶体学家的人种学观察和早期分子建模技术的历史记录为基础，研究晶体学建模的身体工作，特别是建模者学习蛋白质分子复杂结构的身体实践。人种学观察表明，在构建和操纵蛋白质模型的过程中，晶体学家还在屏幕上制作的数字渲染旁边雕刻了具体模型。因此，计算机界面上的晶体学建模不仅是产生蛋白质表示的一种手段，而且也是一种产生蛋白质表征的方法。它也是训练新手晶体学家身体和想象力的一种手段。因此，蛋白质晶体学家的分子实施例为计算机介导的生命科学中的视觉文化和知识实践的研究提出一系列新问题提供了一个场所。
Protein molecules, those objects of increasing interest and investment in post-genomics research, are complex, three-dimensional structures made up of thousands of atoms. Protein crystallographers build atomic-resolution models of proteins using the techniques of X-ray diffraction. This ethnographic study of protein crystallography shows that becoming an expert crystallographer, and so making sense of such intricate objects, requires researchers to draw on their bodies as a resource to learn about, work with, and communicate precise molecular configurations. Contemporary crystallographic modeling relies intensively on interactive computer graphics technology, and requires active and prolonged handling and manipulation of the model onscreen throughout the often arduous process of model-building. This paper builds on both ethnographic observations of contemporary protein crystallographers and historical accounts of early molecular modeling techniques to examine the body-work of crystallographic modeling, in particular the corporeal practices through which modelers learn the intricate structures of protein molecules. Ethnographic observations suggest that, in the process of building and manipulating protein models, crystallographers also sculpt embodied models alongside the digital renderings they craft onscreen. Crystallographic modeling at the computer interface is thus not only a means of producing representations of proteins; it is also a means of training novice crystallographers' bodies and imaginations. Protein crystallographers' molecular embodiments thus offer a site for posing a new range of questions for studies of the visual cultures and knowledge practices in the computer-mediated life sciences.
分子相互作用研究中的实时彩色图形。
DOI：
10.1126/science.7455704
发表时间：
1981
期刊：
Science (New York, N.Y.)
影响因子：
--
作者：
Langridge,R;Ferrin,TE;Kuntz,ID;Connolly,ML
通讯作者：
Connolly,ML