Tired of the usual nine to five routine? How about spending a day learning how to explore the 3D structures of the very molecules that regulate life, as you know it, proteins! The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the Biotechnology Computing Facility of the Arizona Research Laboratories bring to you “Exploring 3D Molecular Structures Using NCBI Tools,” a hands-on workshop for those interested in professional training and consultation for proteomics and bioinformatics. Best of all its FREE!

So why have proteomics and bioinformatics dramatically increased in importance and popularity over the past years? How can this workshop increase your understanding of these two extremely important topics? Researchers in the fields of biochemistry, drug design, and other areas are very interested in mapping proteins, determining their functions, and generating 3D images that allow one to easily visualize a macromolecule’s most important features. These procedures and others involving NCBI tools will be covered throughout the two sessions of this daylong workshop. Dr. Eric Sayers will provide instruction. The core of bioinformatics, which is the collecting, organizing, and standardizing of massive amounts of biochemical information that is constantly being generated, will be covered in the first part of the workshop. Applications of this information, including multiple sequence alignments and the evaluating of multiple sequence alignments of proteins, will be detailed in the second part of the workshop.

So mark your calendars for July 26 for this exciting and free educational opportunity that will begin at 9 AM and end at 5 PM. Don’t worry; there will be an hour break for lunch. More details of the event and information on how to register can be found online at http://biotech.arl.arizona.edu/education/events/2005/3dstructures.php. A second session will be opened on July 27 if the first day fills up.

Marc Bingaman, UBRPer in Dr. Gerald Maggiora’s lab, Pharmacology & Toxicology