2010 Biophysical Society

It’s been over two days since we checked in at Hotel Metropolis (named after the 1927 German silent film) and so far I have been to over 25 talks and learned a lot about current research in biophysical chemistry. One of the highlights of the meeting has been the Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Subgroup Symposium. I especially enjoyed the keynote lecture by Brian Chait, who discussed the role of intrinsically disordered proteins in nucleocytoplasmic transport and Andreas Matouschek‘s presentation on the role of disordered tails as part of the proteasome degradation signal. At the symposium, I was also able to meet Sonia Longhi, our collaborator from France, who sends us protein mutants for our experiments.

Today our group woke up early to attend 8:15 talks. Kate and I headed to the Protein Assemblies Platform to hear a variety of talks about large protein complexes. Afterward we attended the Physical Chemistry of Proteins & Nucleic Acids Platform and ate lunch at the food court in Moscone Center. After lunch I split from the group and attended the Emerging Single Molecule Techniques I Platform, which was held in a packed room with people standing in the back and sitting in the aisles. Although I am not too familiar with single molecule biophysical techniques, I was fascinated by the array of techniques used to characterize motor proteins.

Tomorrow I look forward to hearing more great talks, visiting the vendors to grab some more science-related goodies and continuing to explore San Francisco.