Protein Structure, 1934-1984, as an International Dialogue: From theoretical debates to Interdisciplinary races

蛋白质结构，1934-1984作为国际对话：从理论辩论到跨学科竞赛。该项目追溯了1930-1980年间蛋白质结构研究的历史，这是20世纪的一个重大科学问题，不仅是分子生物学的结构起源，而且是生物技术的关键方面，尤其是蛋白质组学的最新前沿。该项目以大量档案详细记录了国际上对蛋白质结构的探索的三个关键阶段：20世纪30年代的理论辩论，将蛋白质结构的科学问题置于历史运动的背景下，最著名的是英国社会主义、共产主义和反法西斯主义；纳粹主义和极权主义迫使中欧的知识分子迁移；以及美国慈善事业在大萧条时期遏制社会动荡的努力。这一阶段的新颖之处在于它记录了仲裁的关键过程，由来自美国、英国、斯堪的纳维亚、荷兰、法国、瑞士的十几名科学家进行。该项目解释了仲裁人未能在三个主要竞争者之间遏制辩论或完成“社会政治真理分割”的原因。在20世纪50年代早期，对模型的竞争以英国1950型和美国1951型（后者被称为alpha-helix）的模型达到高潮。这场竞赛抓住了二战后政治格局的转变（尤其是冷战氛围，导致关键蛋白质研究人员访问美国或英国的签证被拒）。该项目进一步解释了为什么这一阶段对随后DNA结构掩盖蛋白质结构作为分子生物学兴起的热门话题产生了重大影响。在20世纪60年代和70年代，全分子溶液的经验竞赛（例如，1965年，皇家研究所的一个团队解决了溶菌酶的问题；布鲁克林理工学院和伦敦伯克贝克学院的团队解决了核糖核酸酶的问题）。该项目解释了20世纪60年代大规模政府资助和团队研究在分子生物学中的作用，作为今天扩大到蛋白质组学的前奏。该项目提供了对半个世纪以来国际合作与竞争的更好理解，特别是在二战划分的复杂时期。它还阐明了跨学科研究，这是20世纪科学的一个主要特征。最后，它解释了蛋白质组学，这是目前的科学前沿，超越了基因组学，进入了复杂的大分子药物合理设计的系统研究。

Project AbstractSES 0136992Protein Structure, 1934-1984 As An International Dialogue:From Theoretical Debates To Interdisciplinary Races.Pnina AbiramIndependent Scholar This project traces the history of research on protein structure in the period between 1930-1980, as a major scientific problem in the 20 th Century, underlying not only the structural origins of molecular biology but also key aspects of biotechnology, most notably its most recent frontier in proteomics. The project documents in extensive archival detail three key stages of the international quest for protein structure: 1. The theoretical debates of the 1930s which cast the scientific problem of protein structure in the context of historical movements, most notably British socialism, communism, and anti-fascism; the intellectual migration forced by Nazism and totalitarianism in central Europe; and American philanthropy's efforts to contain social unrest during the Great Depression. The novel aspect of this phase pertains to its documentation of the crucial process of arbitration, conducted by a dozen scientists from US, UK, Scandinavia, Holland, France, Switzerland. The project explains the arbitrator's failure to contain the debate or accomplish a "sociopolitical partition of truth" among the three main contenders.2. The competition over models in the early 1950s, culminating with the British model 1950 and the American model of 1951, the latter known as the alpha-helix. This competition captures the post-WW2 shift of political scenery (especially the Cold War atmosphere which led to denial of visas to key protein researchers to visit the US or the UK. The project further explains why this stage had major consequences for the subsequent overshadowing of protein structure by DNA structure as the hot topic in the rise of molecular biology.3. The empirical races over full molecular solutions in the 1960s and 1970s (e.g. lysozyme solved in 1965 by a team at the Royal Institution; and ribonuclease, solved by teams at the Brooklyn Polytech and Birkbeck College, London. The project explains the role of large scale government funding and team research in molecular biology in the 1960s, as a prelude to current day scaling up into proteomics.This project provides a better understanding of international cooperation and competition over half a century, especially over the complex period divided by WW2. It also illuminates interdisciplinary research, a major feature of 20th Century science. Last, it explains proteomics, a current scientific frontier that goes beyond genomics into systematic research on the rational design of complex, megamolecular drugs.