Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a marvelous spectroscopic technique that
chemists, physicists, and biochemists routinely employ for their research around
the world. This year half of the Nobel Prize for chemistry went to Kurt Wüthrich,
who was recognized for the development of NMR-based techniques that lead to the
structure determination of biomolecules in solution. In addition to implementing
novel pulse sequences and software packages, Wüthrich also applied his methods
to several biological systems of key importance to human health. These include
the prion protein, which is heavily involved in the spongiform encephalopathy
(best known as 'mad cow disease'), which recently caused numerous human deaths,
particularly in the UK, due to ingestion of contaminated meat. Transverse relaxation
optimized spectroscopy (TROSY) is the most intriguing new NMR method recently
developed by Wüthrich and coworkers. This and other closely related pulse
sequences promise to play a pivotal role in the extension of NMR to the conformational
analysis of very large (up to the megadalton range) macromolecules and macromolecular
complexes. More exciting new developments are expected in the near future.
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