Bipolymers: Proteins and Nucleic Acids

摘要

The scientific work supported by N00014-86-K-0755 focused on the basis ofinformation content in macromolecules and how this information directs various biological processes. Specifically we dealt with the activity of the two major class of biological macromolecules, proteins and nucleic acids. We addressed such questions as: (1) how does the base sequence in a region of DNA influence its three-dimensional structure especially in ways that might facilitate the exquisitely specific recognition of a particular site in the DNA by a particular protein. (2) how does the amino acid sequence of the protein that binds specifically to a particular site in DNA influence this binding and conversely how does this interaction depend on the sequence of the DNA. (3) how can we use these insights to design proteins that will specifically recognize and cleave DNA. (4) how does the base sequence in tRNA determine which amino acid will be specifically charged in a process that lies at the heart of the translation of the nucleic acid sequence of a gene into the unique amino acid sequence of the protein that the gene encodes.