Home Department: Chemistry
Supported by: Brian & Karen Mariscal
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry

Benjamin is using a model protein to test hypotheses about the nature of hydrogen bonds in protein structure and function. Hydrogen bonds are responsible for protein folding, assembly, and drug binding, and they play key roles in enzyme catalysis. This work is directed towards a more fundamental understanding of these non-covalent interactions which could have broad implications in protein and drug design.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Using Non-Canonical Amino Acids to Probe Short Hydrogen Bonds in Photoactive Yellow Protein

Ben Thomson¹, Steven Boxer¹
[Department of Chemistry¹, Stanford University]