Fruit Fly protein "genome" mapped

[Brian G Turner]

This is interesting, because our understanding of how proteins complexes interreact is the entire foundation for understanding everything from cellular metabolism to gene expression. In simple terms, understanding the proteins of the living body constitutes the real "book of life" for an organism - the genome is nothing more than an appendix to it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3223318.stm

excerpt:

Biologists have produced a detailed map of protein interactions in a complex organism - the fruit fly.


Proteins, which are made by genes, are the building blocks of tissues as well as the basis for molecular interactions that enable an organism to live.

The protein interaction map will allow a new insight into a highly complex metabolic system, similar in many ways to the human one. The research is to be published in a future issue of the journal Science.