Biographics Laboratory, Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2128
From the beginning, sequence and structure data bases have traversed similar trajectories, although they required different technologies to meet the needs of different clientele - but these differences now appear to merge. The origin of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) is reasonably well documented in the scintific literature. More difficult to perceive is the research environment prior to ("B"), at the initiation ("D"), and in the early days ("P") of the PDB before it became recognized and established. This presentation will outline the events leading up to the creation of the PDB in 1970-1971 and especially descibe break-through events which pointed the way to the capabilities of today, e.g. the unique ability in 1972 to access the PDB remotely via networking. Thus, by 1972, every component of modern networking was in place and the PDB was a viable entity. Initially, while several crucial factors can be identified, the slow growth of protein crystallography can be linked to the slowly growing ability to vreate and envisage molecular models of complex macromolecules by means of interactive computer graphics. Current software and hardware trends will be discussed in order to help envision future developments.