EL's+Milestone+-+Results

a. Compare the result of the lab to the result by Xianowen Hou and Holly Goodson made
 * By studying the conserved residues on the surface of the NPC1 protein, we will be able to predict

which regions are involved in protein recognition and membrane binding

b. Discover the biological role of NPC protein leading to effective therapeutic approaches.
 * Our lab is currently working on this. Danny, an undergrad, is starting this project in January, and you'll be able to do it

during the summer if you want. Basically, what we do is take one amino acid and mutate it to another one. Then, we look at how well the protein functions. By examining the function of the mutated protein, we are able to determine how essential (i.e., necessary for proper function) the amino acid is to the entire protein. And when we find an amino acid that has a huge effect on the protein's function, and then we can start investigating that amino acid as a potential cause of NPC disease.