The bioorganics are people who observe and explain biological objects and events in chemical terms. For example some behavioural peculiarities or a disease can be seen as multiple of chemical processes taking place or occurring in an incorrect way or being absent.
In everyday life bioorganics mostly work with different proteins and their respective partners – signalling molecules. To analyse the „lock-and-key" components, proteins and signalling molecules, respectively, various chromatographic and spectroscopic methods are used; as well as means of organic synthesis are used to make the „keys"; background knowledge of physical chemistry on the other hand is needed to understand the velocity and equilibrium of biochemical reactions.
Often models are constructed by using methods of gene technology to study some specific proteins in a more simple system. An example of a model like this is a cell culture expressing proteins of interest. Using models as such is useful when trying to study only few selected processes in a time.
Professor Ago Rinken and leading scientist Asko Uri manage two workgroups in the Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, respectively. Their work is related to two of the most popular protein families in current pharmaceutical industry, namely:
In conclusion, the bioorganics in The Institute of Chemistry deal with hot topics in the current world of science, using a broad spectrum of different approaches, from drug design to molecular biology, from physical chemistry to behavioural sciences.
Both, people interested in „pure science" or the ones looking for its practical application may feel themselves at home with us!