Alpha helix (Pauling)
Hélice alfa y estructura secundaria de las proteínas
- Date
- 1951 · confidence high
- Place
- Caltech, Pasadena, California, United States
- Credited to
- Linus Pauling, Robert Corey and Herman Branson
- People
- 👤 Herman Branson1914–1995👤 Linus Pauling1901–1994👤 Robert Corey1897–1971
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Applying structural chemistry and model building, Pauling predicted the alpha helix and beta sheet as basic motifs of protein folding, later confirmed by crystallography.
Pauling later proposed an incorrect triple helix for DNA.
What it led to
- structural biology
- the modelling method that inspired Watson and Crick
- the structure of haemoglobin and myoglobin (Perutz, Kendrew)
- protein design
Built on
- Astbury's crystallography
- peptide bond