Say hello to your inner molecules

Structural biologists are revealing the astounding complexity of the molecular machinery of life. But why is it so hard to get any real sense of our molecular nature?

I'd like to show you your inner molecule but, to be perfectly honest, I don't think you're interested. Which is rather frustrating for scientists like myself who have spent a career in structural biology working out what the molecules of human life look like. You know - proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids. The stuff we're all made of.

It may seem odd to complain about a lack of interest in our molecular nature because people seem to be endlessly fascinated - if not obsessed - by DNA, one of the most famous biological molecules of all time. We have little trouble understanding its importance, as the stuff of our genes, in shaping our identity and experience. It links us through evolution to every other living thing on earth and is an essential part of the story of who we are. Our individual stories can take unpleasant turns when our genes malfunction as a result of mutations that cause hereditary diseases or cancers. And lately the manipulation of DNA has been driving the fascinating, if controversial, business of genetically modifying the animals and plants on our farms; even changes to human DNA are now up for discussion as the recent debates around mitochondrial transfer and genome editing have shown.