Finding the right balance: from rare gases to ribosomes

The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award Lecture

What’s really happening within every cell of every living organism? What do ribosomes, the structures that build proteins, do when near other molecules?

From the earliest experiments used to examine gases through to the analysis of organic chemicals, mass spectrometry has provided the means for accurately ‘weighing’ atoms and molecules. Recent developments have transformed mass spectrometry to one capable of weighing and identifying individual proteins, underpinning worldwide efforts to define the individual protein components of living cells.

Many complex reactions in living cells are carried out by assemblies of proteins held together by weak attractive forces. In this lecture, Carol will describe how she and other researchers developed innovative new mass spectrometry techniques that enable the study of these assemblies giving new insights into how different types of proteins, such as ribosomes, within cells interact with each other.

Professor Carol Robinson is the winner of the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award 2004. This award is made annually to an individual for an outstanding contribution to any area of natural science, engineering or technology (SET). The funding for this Award is donated by the Department of Trade and Industry.

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