The Development of the Prediction of Protein Structure

The tenet of structural biology that function follows form had its seeds in the monograph by C. B. Anfinsen, The Molecular Basis of Evolution (Anfinsen, 1959), wherein he stated “Protein chemists naturally feel that the most likely approach to the understanding of cellular behavior lies in the study of structure and function of protein molecules.” The achievement of protein crystallography over the past 30 years has confirmed this view whereby the description of the structure and function of proteins is now frequently understood at the atomic level.