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Hi Frank, How long of an incubation period between structure, insight and application are you willing to accept? Here are a few possibilities, leaning towards longer incubation times. 1. Structure of DNA -> necessary for understanding of replication, translation, sequencing, etc: contributed tremendously to all of modern molecular biology and all of its contributions to public health. 2. Structure of MHC class I complexes with peptides (Pam Bjorkman with Don Wiley). My immunologist friends tell me that seeing this structure suddenly clarified a lot of experimental data and was pivotal in the understanding of peptide antigen presentation, which is at the heart of modern vaccine development. 3. Structures of insulin -> development of insulin preparations with improved properties (e.g. engineered for quick-acting vs long-acting or mixture of the two). Best wishes, Randy On 16 Sep 2013, at 14:23, Frank von Delft <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello, I need stuff for a lecture, so I figured I'd best crowd-source it from the best forum on the intertubes: > > Anybody know some examples of where structural biology threw up insight(s) that led to very significant practical improvements in some public health approach or industrial process or other non-research application -- ideally in the context of a developing nation/economy/society. If they made someone rich, even better. > > Of particular interest are examples about: > communicable diseases: not only the big ones (TB, HIV, malaria), but also immunization, livestock, etc. > food security: better diet, food shelf life, crop yields, etc. > green energy: [preferably excluding so-called "biofuels", but I won't be picky] > water reclamation: purification, sewage treatment, etc. > Specifically NOT of interest is structure-guided medicinal chemistry. > > (I have some examples, but presumably there are better ones.) > > > Any scraps of info welcome: journal reference, name of researcher/group, URL, news release, etc. [Links to actual slides would be an unexpected bonus.] > > Thanks! > phx ------ Randy J. Read Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge Cambridge Institute for Medical Research Tel: + 44 1223 336500 Wellcome Trust/MRC Building Fax: + 44 1223 336827 Hills Road E-mail: [log in to unmask] Cambridge CB2 0XY, U.K. www-structmed.cimr.cam.ac.uk