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NSMB’s 30th Anniversary

Keeping in touch with the road not taken

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 31, pages 1816–1817 (2024)Cite this article

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Since graduating from college as an aspiring structural biologist 30 years ago, I have followed progress in the field with intermittent but genuine interest. To me, structural biology represents ‘the road not taken’1, as I have instead dedicated my career to other pursuits. Here, I reflect on how keeping in touch with a field I left behind long ago continues to bring me joy and fulfillment.

Despite no longer working in structural biology, I felt an unexpected connection to it on 9 October, when I heard the Nobel Prize in Chemistry announcement on the radio as I prepared breakfast. Three researchers — David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper — had been awarded the prize for pioneering work in protein design and structure prediction. I didn’t recognize the names at that point, but I knew of Rosetta and AlphaFold. My mind drifted to memories of staring at stereo protein diagrams, trying — and failing — to see the 3D structures. Then, I went on with my day.

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Fig. 1: Class notes.

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Acknowledgements

I thank D. Shaw, C. Tsimbal, Y. Xu and A. Ionescu for detailed comments. I currently receive support from NIH grant R21AG086992, a Hevolution Foundation GRO award, and a Longevity Impetus grant from Norn Group, Hevolution Foundation and Rosenkranz Foundation.

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  1. Biology Department and Bioengineering Department, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Javier Apfeld

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  1. Javier Apfeld
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Correspondence to Javier Apfeld.

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Apfeld, J. Keeping in touch with the road not taken. Nat Struct Mol Biol 31, 1816–1817 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01443-y

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