- Robert Corey
Robert Brainard Corey (August 19, 1897 – April 23, 1971) was an American biochemist, mostly known for his role in discovery of the
α-helix and theβ-sheet withLinus Pauling . Also working with Pauling wasHerman Branson . Their discoveries were remarkably correct, with even the bond lengths being accurate until about 40 years later. The α-helix and β-sheet are two structures that are now known to form the backbones of manyprotein s.The findings of α-helix and β-sheet
At
Caltech , the trio (Pauling, Corey and Branson) published a series of 8 articles in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS ).The most revolutionary of the 8 articles in PNAS is the first one, written on
February 28 ,1951 . That date was also Pauling's 50th birthday. It was called "The Structure of Proteins: Two Hydrogen-Bonded Helical Configurations of the Polypeptide Chain". In the paper, one odd thing is that the trio diagrammed the α-helix as a left-handed helix, although it is really a right-handed one. Another odd thing in the paper is that the 3(10) helix is almost never mentioned, although it is very common, while the γ-helix, which was another focus of the paper, is almost never seen.ee also
*
CPK coloring External links
* [http://www.pnas.org/misc/classics1.shtml The Protein Papers] by Christen Brownlee, in PNAS at 100: Classics of the Scientific Literature
* [http://fermat.nap.edu/books/0309057884/html/51.html Robert Brainard Corey] by Richard E. Marsh, Biographical Memoirs V.72 (1997) of the National Academy of Sciences
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