SDS 593: The Real-World Impact of Cross-Disciplinary Data Science Collaboration — with Philip Bourne

Protein Dynamics

Philip Bourne's research in biomedical data science focuses on the intricate three-dimensional structures of proteins, which are crucial for understanding biological processes and drug design. He highlights the significance of the protein databank, a repository that has grown from 77 to nearly 200,000 structures, revolutionizing our grasp of biology. Bourne explains that proteins are not static; they perform functions by changing shapes, which is essential for processes like enzyme activity and genetic mutation analysis.

Proteins, they're not a fixed shape. They do work most of the time. They are things like enzymes that allow all of the processes in our cells, through all the different cell types in our body, to operate.

--- Philip Bourne

This dynamic nature of proteins is a key area of study, especially in drug discovery, where understanding protein movement can influence how drugs interact with their targets 1 2.

   

Protein Engineering

The potential to engineer new protein structures opens exciting possibilities for addressing global challenges, such as environmental cleanup and carbon capture. Bourne discusses the role of data science in predicting protein structures from sequences, a breakthrough achieved by DeepMind's AlphaFold. This advancement allows scientists to explore new protein functions that do not naturally occur, potentially leading to innovative solutions.

There's clearly going to be movement in that direction to address exactly the kind of issues that you're talking about. But again, like all of these things, it's easy to sit here at a podcast and talk about it for a few minutes. But actually, there's a lot of sweat and tears to actually make these things happen.

--- Philip Bourne

However, Bourne cautions that engineering proteins also carries risks, as unintended consequences could arise from creating new biological entities 3.

   

Evolutionary Insights

Bourne's work also delves into how protein structures provide insights into evolutionary biology, revealing patterns across thousands of species. By mapping protein shapes to species, researchers can construct a "tree of life," offering a visual representation of evolutionary relationships. This approach has uncovered correlations between ocean geochemistry changes and evolutionary developments, highlighting the power of data science in bridging disparate scientific fields.

Data can bring them together, and you start making new discoveries about ourselves, about life itself.

--- Philip Bourne

These findings underscore the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing our understanding of life's complexity 4 5.