Coordination Action NMR-Life

NMR has established itself as an invaluable tool to investigate the structure and dynamics of biomolecules.

Its contributions to the general area of Structural Genomics are particularly relevant, as

1- weak interactions between biomolecules are increasingly recognized as central to the biochemical processes of Life and
2- weak interactions are best grasped by NMR. Europe has a human and infrastructure capital in the field of NMR that is second to none.

In this frame, the networking and coordination of NMR research in Structural Genomics has been tackled by the NMR-Life Coordination Action, which ended in February 2009.

The activities carried out included: organization of meetings, exchange of personnel, exchange of good practices, implementation of a virtual laboratory, distribution of an electronic newsletter.

These activities were framed by dividing the scientific arena in four broad topics defined as horizontal:

a. protein-protein interactions;
b. protein-DNA/RNA interactions;
c. protein-ligand interactions;
d. membrane and immobilized proteins.

The coordination activities deployed aimed at achieving the following main goals:

1. foster cross-fertilization between the four different scientific areas on which this project focuses, mainly through the common vertical aspects;
2. contribute to the development and dissemination of common good practices and methodological approaches;
3. foster the transfer of knowledge among different research teams, thereby enhancing the spreading of innovative methods and tools;
4. implement a common reference point for the European NMR community in the internet, by maintaining a common virtual laboratory;
5. jointly identify bottlenecks and possible breakthroughs in the field of biological NMR.

As a result of NMR-Life, several documents were produced. Of particular importance is the final document of the project, entitled "NMR in Mechanistic Systems Biology".