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Over the past several weeks, we have looked at the phenomenon of
protein folding from a computational point of view, and we've
seen that this is a very difficult problem in which much time
and effort has been invested. As important as it is, though,
protein folding isn't the only area of the biosciences that
is catching the interest of simulation scientists. As we move
our way toward examining scientific computing's role in the
burgeoning DNA field, we'll take some time to examine some
of these other important problems.
Because these lipid bilayers are so prevalent in biological systems, gaining a thorough understanding of them is an important endeavor. However, because of their extensive two-dimensional size, as well as the presence of thousands of water molecules, it has been quite a challenge to conduct a meaningful simulation that doesn't overconsume computer resources. To overcome some of these limitations, researchers in the Department of Chemistry at the Technical University of Denmark have employed a fairly new simulation method to approach the study of lipid bilayers. Dissipative Particle Dynamics, or DPD, is similar to Molecular Dynamics, in that it is a classical method that involves moving particles through (phase) space. The major difference is that, rather than an atomistic representation of the system, DPD utilizes so-called "fluid packages". These packages can be thought of as either small regions of fluid or small groupings of atoms, an ambiguity that adds some flexibility to the simulation. Utilizing DPD simulation methods, the aforementioned researchers have been able to show the self-assembly of a lipid layer in water, starting from a random distribution of lipid molecules throughout the simulation cell. This is an encouraging result, and bodes well for future studies on these types of systems. To learn more about this work visit Go To Page: 1
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