High-throughput sequencing of human genomes and those of important model organisms (mouse, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, fungi, archaea) and bacterial pathogens has laid the foundation for another "big science" initiative in biology. Together, X-ray crystallographers, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopists, and computational biologists are pursuing high-throughput structural studies aimed at developing a comprehensive three-dimensional view of the protein structure universe. The new science of structural genomics promises more than 10,000 experimental protein structures and millions of calculated homology models of related proteins. The evolutionary underpinnings and technological challenges of automating target selection, protein expression and purification, sample preparation, NMR and X-ray data measurement/analysis, homology modeling, and structure/function annotation are discussed in detail. An informative case study from one of the structural genomics centers funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH/NIGMS) demonstrates how this experimental/computational pipeline will reveal important links between form and function in biology and provide new insights into evolution and human health and disease.

中文翻译：

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构建蛋白质的宇宙。

人类基因组和重要模型生物（小鼠，黑腹果蝇，秀丽隐杆线虫，真菌，古细菌）和细菌病原体的高通量测序，为生物学的另一项“大科学”计划奠定了基础。X射线晶体学家，核磁共振（NMR）光谱学家和计算生物学家共同致力于高通量结构研究，旨在开发蛋白质结构宇宙的全面三维视图。结构基因组学的新科学有望提供超过10,000种实验性蛋白质结构和数百万种相关蛋白质的计算同源性模型。自动化目标选择，蛋白质表达和纯化，样品制备，详细讨论了NMR和X射线数据测量/分析，同源性建模以及结构/功能注释。由美国国立卫生研究院和美国国立普通医学科学研究所（NIH / NIGMS）资助的结构基因组学中心之一提供的案例研究表明，该实验/计算流程将如何揭示生物学中形式与功能之间的重要联系并提供对进化以及人类健康和疾病的新见解。