Dorothy Hodgkin, Oxford's only female Nobel scientist (so far) looks pleased with her wire-and-ball model of Vitamin B as she poses for a 1955 photograph.
By then she had already spent eight years trying to solve the vitamin's structure, in between teaching and raising a family in north Oxford.
She was the pioneer of structural biology, bouncing X-rays off samples of materials and teaching herself to interpret the ‘diffraction’ patterns that emerge. She took on the painstaking task of developing hundreds of images on photographic plates and build up the structure by hand to come up with her model — earlier scientists used ping-pong balls to represent the atoms.
She did this first for relatively simple biological molecules, starting with cholesterol in 1937.
Her Nobel Prize in 1964 was for her work on penicillin.
When Dr Myron Smith, of drug discovery company Evotec, set out to unravel the structure of a protein called serine racemase in 2008, he sat at a computer at the Diamond Light Source at Harwell.
Having earlier made a crystalline sample of the protein, he was ready to create more than 120 computer images, composed of spots representing the position of atoms within the molecule. It took him less than a year to construct a 3D picture of his molecule — a process that would once have taken decades.
A more recent Nobel prize winner, Prof Venki Ramakrishnan (chemistry, 2009), was at Diamond last month to unveil an embroidered image of Dr Smith's molecule, created by more than 5,000 ordinary people worldwide. The textile project, claiming to be the world’s largest diffraction pattern, is an artistic impression of serine racemase, a protein found in the brain that is associated both with intractable pain and with schizophrenia.
Dr Smith said: “I ended up with a sequence of 120 patterns, and I had to add these images up. We still scatter the light on the molecules, like Dorothy Hodgkin, and we eventually come up with a model that allows us to design molecules that will interact with serine racemase, and perhaps treat the conditions it is associated with.
“Before the advent of computers, it could take 20 years. When I did my PhD, it took one or two years and now it's even faster than that.”
It was a learning experience for Dr Smith as much as for Anne Griffiths, the Oxfordshire textile artist who designed the pattern, and her fellow Women's Institute members, who did the stitching.
Dr Smith said: “I had to explain what the diffraction pattern meant and how we used it, and try to give a feeling of how I got the image in the first place. Anne was very understanding. It was a good experience for me. It made me think about how best to explain it so that people could understand.”
When he saw the finished product, Dr Smith was amazed.
“It was a fantastic achievement. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I thought it was very representative of the sample. It also portrays the strands and loops, so it actually documents the feel of the experiment and the procedure that you go through. It's very difficult to do that, especially with something scientific.”
Prof Ramakrishnan said knowing the structures of the molecules of life was an important part of efforts to discover new medicines.
“It is great to see a creative way to communicate what this valuable technique is all about. The completion of the world’s largest diffraction pattern is wonderful because it has allowed people who are interested in science to take part directly in imaginative science projects.
“It is also extremely beautiful and I’m sure visitors to Diamond will enjoy seeing it, and learning about the science behind it, for many years to come,” he said.
Diamond chief executive Prof Gerd Materlik said they came up with the initiative in an attempt to open up science to all in new and interesting ways.
“This project has been about more than a piece of art or a scientific image – it has been an opportunity for members of the public to engage with and learn about the science happening on their doorstep. We are delighted that after two years of touring and gathering stitches, the pattern is complete and ready to go on display here at Diamond for our staff, visiting scientists and the public to enjoy.”
Dr Smith's team leader, Dr John Barker said: “The information we gain from these diffraction patterns is vital to the progression of our research into serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and pain relief.
“It is fantastic that one of our diffraction patterns has been used to create this unique work of art, while at the same time widening access to science. Evotec is delighted to have helped fund this initiative and to see that the pattern is now complete and on display.”
The textile pattern can be seen on Inside Diamond days. The next is on November 13, with a tour inside the doughnut shaped building where the experiments take place.
o See the website www.diamond.ac.uk
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