Tina Logonder: How does structural biology contribute to understanding cancer? 

On Thursday, October 24th, ASEF, in collaboration with Gimnazija Škofja Loka, held a well-attended popular science lecture as part of the ASEF Young Minds lecture series. In front of a large audience of students preparing for their final exams in biology and chemistry, Tina Logonder, a young researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at the University of Ljubljana and an ASEF Junior Fellow 2023, presented her work titled “How Structural Biology Contributes to Understanding Cancer?”.

Tina explained why cancer research remains critical, highlighting the high number of cases and deaths expected in the coming decades. She then introduced her doctoral research, which focuses on determining the structure of a protein complex involved in cancer development. Identifying this structure could reveal mechanisms that would enable the development of potential treatments.

During the lecture, the audience learned about the significance of structural biology and its rapid progress from its beginnings 70 years ago to the present day. Structural biology, which combines tools such as X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and artificial intelligence, is making breakthroughs in research. The development of cryo-electron microscopy (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2017) now allows the resolution of structures that were previously considered unsolvable. Artificial intelligence, which has become part of our everyday lives, also plays an essential role. AlphaFold (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2024), which predicts 3D protein structures solely from amino acid sequences, is crucial in many recent advancements in structural biology.

The lecture was particularly enriched by the inclusion of diagrams, schematics, and scientific illustrations of experimental methods and processes, which Tina had created herself. These effectively illustrated complex concepts and helped the audience better understand the research approaches in structural biology.

Finally, the lecture was further enriched by a presentation of Tina’s research visit to the University of Queensland in Australia, where she worked with Professor Boštjan Kobe. She shared experiences from the lab, as well as memorable anecdotes from her trips in Australia, including encounters with both furry and non-furry native animals.

The event was coordinated by Tine Šteger, ASEF Junior Fellow 2021.

The ASEF Young Minds project is supported by the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth and the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad.