College of Science and Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
Mathematics Seminar Series - Spring 2004
Monday,
February 23, 2004
2:30 pm Science 2-065
2:30 pm Science 2-065
Ethan Bolker
University of Massachusetts BostonA too simple model for protein folding
Abstract:
Supercomputers and computer grids are regularly employed attempting
to decide how a sequence of amino acids will fold into a three
dimensional configuration. In this talk we'll examine a very
simple analogue for that impossible problem in biochemistry.
We model amino acids as disks (or balls) each of which wants
(or does not want) to be exposed to water. Polypeptides are sequences
of amino acids which we try to arrange on a grid in the plane (or in
space) in an attempt to give each acid the environment it wants. The
model is too simple to help biochemists, but complex enough to be
useful in the teaching of biology and to suggest interesting problems
in combinatorics and algorithm development. Undergraduates (math, bio,
cs) welcome.
The presentations cover a large variety of topics and are intended for a general math audience. The seminar is organized by Prof. Alfred Noël and we usually meet Monday afternoons, from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm.
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