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To the human observer, the deep sea is as extreme an environment as Earth has to offer. Below about 200 metres, there is no light from the surface, the water can be frigid (-2 to 5 ̊C), oxygen and food are scarce, and the pressure is staggering. Of course, to the countless species that inhabit the deep sea, these conditions are not so extreme, and in a statistical sense, they fall fairly close to average, since the deep comprises the planet’s largest habitat by volume. Despite its expanse, we know little about how life persists in an environment so different from our own. Only in the last half-century has technology emerged that allows us to collect and study live deep-sea animals. Diversity, Evolution and EcoPhysiology of Ctenophores (DEEPC, deepc.org, a US NSF-supported research effort) is opening a window on biochemistry in the deep, and specifically on its relationship to high pressure. By determining structural constraints on enzyme function under pressure, we aim to inform models focusing on deep-sea animal colonization, and to find general patterns of protein adaptation with possible applications in protein engineering and biocatalysis.
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This content will become publicly available on March 31, 2026
BASIL, RCSB Protein Data Bank, and the NSF
This year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is celebratingits 75th anniversary. NSF support was essential in the originaldevelopment of BASIL (Biochemistry Authentic Scientific InquiryLab). Ongoing NSF support over the past ten years has enabled the BASILcommunity to grow in numbers and in collaboration with other teacher/scholar teamswho are seeking to change undergraduate biochemistry education. At the same time,NSF support has also provided support for our most critical online resource, theRCSB Protein Data Bank, which has always provided us with the structures that westudy and, increasingly, is providing us with the tools that our students use to explorethese structures and predict their function.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2142033
- PAR ID:
- 10592060
- Publisher / Repository:
- RCSB Protein Data Bank; https://pdb101.rcsb.org/train/education-corner
- Date Published:
- Volume:
- Spring 25
- Issue:
- 105
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Institution:
- RCSB Protein Data Bank
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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