Structural biology and its applications to the health sciences

Part of the decipherment of genomic information I ies in understanding the structure and function of the protein products of these genes. Protein stru cture is of further importance because of the molecular basis of many disea ses. Structural biology is the field of research focusing on the experiment al determination of the structure of biological molecules. We review the fi eld of structural biology and its application to medical research and drug discovery, and describe the structural results recently obtained in our lab oratory for the detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase from the Asian mosquito Anopheles dirus species B, an important malaria vector. These enz ymes have detoxifying activity toward pesticides and thus contribute to pes ticide resistance in insects.