Anastassis Perrakis appointed Professor of Macromolecular Structures at Utrecht University

20-04-2018

Biochemist Anastassis (Tassos) Perrakis has been appointed Endowed Professor of Macromolecular Structures at Utrecht University. Perrakis is a researcher and group leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and an expert in unravelling cancer proteins.

Anastassis Perrakis studies the proteins that play a role in the development of cancer, but he also develops techniques for analysing their structures. In his field, he is mainly known for his contributions to macromolecular crystallography, the creation of large proteins.

The most important method for analysing proteins is X-ray diffraction, a technique that makes it possible to determine the positions of atoms in a protein with extreme accuracy. The various software tools that Perrakis has developed make the process faster and more effective.

Software for protein models

Together with his research group at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), in 1999 Perrakis developed the software ARP/wARP, which is now commonly used to show the structure of a protein. 'With this software, crystallographers can automatically create a structure model of a molecule based on their own X-ray experiments, whether they are new to the field or already have plenty of experience', according to Perrakis. 'In the past, they had to spend weeks, or even months, in front of expensive computer equipment.' The ARP/wARP software has a few thousand users and has been cited in scientific publications more than 5,000 times.

Anastassis Perrakis appointed Professor of Macromolecular Structures at Utrecht University

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