Introduction

On behalf of the Royal Institution, I wish to express our pleasure that this discussion on ‘The structure and function of lysozyme’ is being held in its theatre this afternoon. Dr Phillips and his team have been investigating the structure of lysozyme in the Davy Faraday Laboratory for some years, and have recently been able to analyse that structure in considerable detail. They have also been able to mark down the sites on the molecule to which inhibitors of its action attach themselves. It is a great day for the Laboratory to take part in a meeting at which experts in this country and abroad have gathered to discuss the significance of the new knowledge about structure; and our warm thanks are due to Dr Perutz for organizing the present conference on behalf of the Royal Society. The initiation of a project to study a selected protein structure requires very careful consideration; it is rather like a decision as to which new type of aeroplane to build. The cost in manpower, time and money is considerable, and if the structure proves to be obdurate this expenditure shows little return. Lysozyme, which Dr Poljak had already studied when he joined the Davy Faraday team in 1960, proved to be a fortunate choice. It is the third protein structure to be successfully analysed, and the first enzyme.