Genome sequencing projects, involving bacteria, yeast, plants, mammals and the recently completed sequence of the human genome, are generating huge amounts of genomic information. The identification of every gene within the genomes of these organisms represents only the first step in scientists' understanding of the nature and function of the gene products and how these proteins influence our health. The human genome alone is thought to contain some 30,000 genes. Unraveling the function of all these proteins will represent at least if not more difficult task than the genomic mapping and sequencing efforts.

To meet these challenges, a new area of scientific investigation has arisen— structural genomics or structure-based functional genomics. Functional genomics encompasses the identification and biochemical and cellular functions of new gene products. Functional genomics encompasses the discipline of proteomics--the cataloging and analysis of protein. Although proteins are the direct result of the instructions...