Patterns in Protein Sequence and Structure

The topic of "Patterns in Protein Sequence and Structure" is of interest to a wide range of scientists, from biochemists to computer scientists, and this diversity is, to some extent, reflected by the contributions to this volume. The problems of interpreting biological sequence data are to an increasing extent forcing molecular biologists to learn the language of computers, including at times, even the abstruse language of the computerscientists themselves. While, on their side, the computer scientists have discovered a veritable honey-pot of real data on which to test their algorithms. This enforced meeting of two otherwise alien fields has resulted in some difficulties in communication and it is an aim of this volume to help resolve these. The chapters follow, roughly ordered from puresequence analysis to structure analysis, including, towards the end, even some experimental approaches. This progression is echoed by the gradual distortion of Marilyn Monroes's face into a protein motif which formed the poster advertising the original meeting, from which the contents of this volume loosely derive. The poster was, of course, brightly coloured and those readers who have not exhausted their Day-Glo pens hi-lighting sequence motifs might like to reproduce the original effect by copying the colouring scheme of Andy Warhol's Ten Marilyns.