Stronger magnets, stronger science

Since the elucidation of the DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1951, the importance of understanding the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules has become obvious. Over the last few decades scientists have resolved the structure of thousands of complex biomolecules enabling incredible innovations in drug design, biological and medical sciences. X-Ray crystallography has been the key technique, but in recent years Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has emerged as an additional, complementary approach. Dr. Loren Andreas explains to us how NMR has grown to be the technology of choice as it has expanded its field of application from liquid solutions to condensed systems. The discussion is a surprising discovery of how progress in engineering and instrument design has completely changed the landscape in structural biology. Modern NMR allows scientists to study molecules in complex systems, simulating more closely their natural environment, including interaction between them. This episode offers an exciting glimpse of the future, through a few examples from today’s science.

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About Your Host

Paolo Braiuca grew up in the North-East of Italy and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from nearby esteemed University of Trieste, Italy.  He developed expertise in biocatalysis during his years of post-doctoral research in Italy and the UK, where he co-founded a startup company. With this new venture, Paolo’s career shifted from R&D to business development, taking on roles in commercial, product management, and marketing. He has worked in the specialty chemicals, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical markets in Germany and the UK, where he presently resides.

He is currently the Director of Global Market Development in the Laboratory Chemicals Division  at Thermo Fisher Scientific™ which put him in the host chair of the Bringing Chemistry to Life podcast. A busy father of four, in what little free time he has, you’ll find him inventing electronic devices with the help of his loyal 3D-printer and soldering iron. And if you ask him, he’ll call himself a “maker” at heart.