Coiled-coils and fibrous proteins.
The Fifth Workshop on ‘‘Coiled-Coils, Collagen and Co-proteins” was held at Alpbach in Austria from September 6 to 12, 2009. The Workshop this time was generously sponsored by Elsevier and by the M.E. Mueller Foundation/M.E. Mueller Institute for Structural Biology. The format, as usual, was to invite Chairs and a few keynote contributors for each session, but then at the Workshop itself to allow the Chairs to invite delegates to present something of their latest work. The Chairs arranged the programme accordingly and allotted time to each depending on the numbers involved. Of course particular sessions can (and did) prove especially popular and a degree of flexibility in extending some sessions and shortening others was necessary. This format, whilst a challenge on occasions to the Chairs and the Organisers, has proved remarkably successful over the years. Significant benefits of the Workshops include both the opportunity of meeting in an informal environment with colleagues in related fields with whom they would not normally collaborate, and also the chance to learn of new developments in techniques and software (for example) that are relevant across many facets of the field of fibrous proteins. Developments in structure and function in one protein system can often foster ideas and approaches in others. Considerable cross-fertilisation has occurred in past Workshops, with perhaps even more taking place in this latest one. The Guest of Honour was Professor Kenneth Holmes FRS, an eminent scientist who has made major contributions in the structural biology field, particularly on tobacco mosaic virus and on muscle and, in the latter case, more specifically, on thin filament structure and function. At Alpbach, Ken Holmes presented a fascinating and beautifully illustrated lecture on the research that he has undertaken over a span of more than 50 years. He mentioned in context the remarkable galaxy of other eminent scientists, a Who’s Who of 20th century structural biologists, with whom he has collaborated over the years. The first paper in this Special Issue is by Ken Holmes and in it he provides a delightful personal account of his life with fibres. Learning a little of the history of world class scientists such as Ken, their successes and their (rare) failures, provides an insight into the individuals concerned, and is something that we hear about all too infrequently.