What role can physical modeling of protein structure play in our project?

SMART Program and IGEM

This year, our iGEM team has established a connection with faculty from the Milwaukee School of Engineering who have developed the Students Modeling a Research Topic SMART program. In the program, high school students are trained to use computer assisted modeling of 3-D protein structure to develop models that are then built useing Rapid Prototyping technology.

Ours is the first iGEM to connect with the SMART program. Eric Sawyer, from Central High School in Saint Joseph, MO, will be working with our iGEM team on physical modeling of protein structure.

Questions

What role could physical modeling of one or more proteins play in our iGEM project this year?

What can we expect to learn from physical modeling?

How would a physical model help to present and explain our project at the iGEM Jamboree?