Fragments in space!

Practical Fragments has discussed fragments on Mars and Venus, but those planets are just two small specks in a vast universe. Always thinking big, the luminaries at DREADCO (who previously brought us fragment screening in cells using cryo-EM) have set their sights on deep space. Their theoretical proposal has just been published in the Journal of Extraterrestrial and Space Technologies.

 

One of the big unknowns in molecular recognition is precisely how small molecule ligands approach proteins. To find out, the researchers propose creating a library of fragments, each of which is attached to a very tiny mirror. Proteins of interest would also have tiny mirrors affixed to them. Laser interferometry would be used to study the interactions of proteins and ligands in extremely dilute solutions.

 

One potential problem with this approach is gravity, which is hard to escape on Earth, so the researchers propose running their experiment at a Lagrange point. They had hoped to catch a ride on the James Webb Space Telescope, but the mirror fabrication has taken longer than expected.

 

Even for a secretive multinational megacorporation like DREADCO this will be an expensive endeavor, so they’ll probably have to wait until they’ve eradicated human disease before launching this project. In the meantime, they’re taking suggestions for protein targets – feel free to leave yours in the comments!