The ribosome is the molecular factory responsible for synthesizing proteins in all organisms. Using the "Q Machine" supercomputer, Los Alamos computer scientists have created a molecular simulation of the cell's protein-making structure, the ribosome. The project, simulating 2.64 million atoms in motion, is more than six times larger than any biological simulations performed to date. The Los Alamos team led by Kevin Sanbonmatsu of Theoretical Biology and Biophysics (T-10) is the first to observe the entire ribosome in motion at atomic detail. Researchers at the Laboratory have set a new world's record by performing the first million-atom computer simulation in biology.
It requires man’s finest minds and most advanced machines to model what we are discovering at the nano-level of life. Is it mind or matter that “brings good things to life?”
About the Image: The aminoacyl-transfer-RNA (yellow) caught in the act of delivering its amino acid (green) to the growing protein hanging off the peptidyl-transfer-RNA (cyan). The ribosome (large subunit in white and small subunit in purple) uses the transfer RNA molecules to read the genetic information from the messenger RNA (green). For visualization purposes, the top portion of the ribosome is cut away so that the transfer RNA molecules are visible. Credit: Sanbonmatsu Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Image credit: Copyright © 1993-2005 UC. This information has been authored by an employee or employees of the University of California, operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge. No endorsement by the University of California or the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the products on this page is implied or intended by the use of these images.
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