A Dispute Between the Cavendish and Caltech: The Emergence and Ubiquity of the Alpha-Helix
February 2020
in “
Oxford University Press eBooks
”
TLDR The alpha-helix was confirmed as a key structure in proteins.
In 1950, Bragg, Kendrew, and Perutz from the Cavendish Laboratory proposed a model for protein folding, specifically for keratin. This model was quickly challenged by Pauling and Corey from Caltech, who criticized the Cambridge team's proposal and introduced the alpha-helix as a new structural motif for proteins. The alpha-helix's significance and characteristics were outlined, and its validity was later confirmed through X-ray studies of myoglobin and the enzyme lysozyme by Kendrew at the Cavendish Laboratory and Phillips et al. at the DFRL in the United Kingdom.