Deepti Gupta, Project Manager & Database Curator at EMBL-EBI, talks about her favourite protein which helps us perceive the world around us
Behind every discovery lies a story. Often this story is of a scientist and their passion and awe for nature’s design.
We’ve asked some of our scientists, from across EMBL sites, to talk about the molecules that capture their imagination and make them smile. These stories reveal the surprising beauty, humour, and charm in the molecular structures that power life itself. We invite you to explore them and fall in love with the molecules, like these scientists have.
“To understand the world around us, we rely heavily on our senses. Our actions and interactions depend on how we perceive our surroundings through senses such as touch, smell, and sight. At a molecular level, this is made possible by proteins.
“PIEZO1 is one of my favourite proteins. It’s a mechanoreceptor present in the skin, and it enables us to perceive touch and pressure. Not only does PIEZO1 help organisms understand their surroundings, but its structure is also incredibly beautiful, reminding me of a windmill or a propeller.
“The importance of PIEZO1 was confirmed in 2021, when the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their groundbreaking work on thermal and mechanical transducers, including PIEZO1.”
Deepti Gupta (India), Project Manager & Scientific Database Curator at Protein Data Bank in Europe, EMBL-EBI
