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Nerdy Jobs: Protein Crystallization

Middle school learnscience.org

Name Date

Predict

Proteins are tiny parts that do jobs inside your body, and one protein is much too small to see with your eyes. Could scientists grow a crystal, the kind you can see, out of a protein?

Circle one. Yes / No

Why?

Watch

  1. Nerdy Jobs S1E1, Exploring the Magic of Protein Crystallizationyoutu.be/siFfzoFv61I

Meet the scientist

Dr. Sarah Bowman

Job title. Structural biologist. A structural biologist figures out the shapes of proteins and other molecules in living things. Dr. Bowman runs a crystallization center at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute in Buffalo, New York.

A workday. Labs from around the world send proteins to her center. Robots set up tiny drops of each protein, and cameras take pictures of the drops for six weeks to spot crystals as they grow. Dr. Bowman also aims X-rays at protein crystals and uses math and computers to work out each protein’s shape.

Training. Dr. Bowman first earned a college degree in English literature and women’s studies. Years later, she went back to college for chemistry. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry five years after her chemistry degree. A Ph.D. is the highest degree in a subject. Then she did more research at MIT and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Word of the day

Crystallography (kris-tuh-LOG-ruh-fee). The science of crystals and how they form.

Word partComes fromMeaning
crystallo-Greek krýstallosclear ice, rock crystal
-graphyGreek -graphíadrawing, writing, recording
  • Photography means “drawing with light.”
  • Cryo- means icy cold. It comes from a Greek word related to krýstallos. Cryogenics is the study of extreme cold.

Bonus word. Protein (PROH-teen). Prot- comes from the Greek prōteîos, “primary” or “first.” A protein is a chain of amino acids folded into a shape, and a protein’s job depends on its shape.

Questions

  1. Dr. Bowman calls proteins the molecular machines in your body. Her job as a structural biologist is figuring out what those machines look like. Why would scientists want to know a protein’s shape?

    Hint. Dr. Bowman talks about making vaccines and medicines. What would scientists need to see before they design a medicine?

  2. Hemoglobin is the protein in your blood that carries oxygen to your muscles and your brain. Dr. Bowman says hemoglobin has one shape when oxygen is attached and a slightly different shape when oxygen isn’t attached. Why would scientists want to see both shapes of hemoglobin?

    Hint. Hemoglobin picks up oxygen in your lungs and lets go of oxygen in the rest of your body. How could two shapes help explain that job?

  3. In the episode, a robot puts drops of protein into a plate with 96 tiny wells. The drops are too small to see with your eyes. Why does the lab use a robot to set up the drops?

    Circle one. The robot measures tiny drops exactly without touching other things / The robot makes the drops big enough to see / The robot turns the protein into crystals

    Hint. Dr. Bowman talks about precision and contamination. Contamination means something unwanted gets mixed in.

  4. The virus that causes COVID-19 makes a protein called the main protease. The main protease cuts the virus’s other proteins into working pieces. A medicine that blocks the main protease can treat COVID-19. How can knowing the shape of a virus protein help scientists make a medicine?

    Hint. A medicine has to fit onto the protein like a puzzle piece.

Exit ticket

Dr. Bowman’s team grows crystals out of proteins, then aims X-rays at the crystals. Why do structural biologists like Dr. Bowman grow crystals out of proteins?

Hint. What do the X-rays, math and computers let scientists see?

Sources