= Brian T. Wimberly
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= B. T. Wimberly
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{synonym}
<Brian T. Wimberly> is a researcher in <RNA> structure and <ribosome> function. The full byline of the 2000 paper on the bacterial <small ribosomal subunit> establishes the expansion of the credited initials B. T. Wimberly. The paper lists him among six equally contributing authors at the forefront of its structural work.<Structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit by B. T. Wimberly and others>[Publisher author list, affiliations and equal-contribution note]{ref}
The team determined a 30S <ribosomal subunit> structure refined to $3\,\text{Å}$ resolution using <X-ray crystallography>. It located the folded <ribosomal RNA> and associated <ribosomal proteins> in a molecular model, providing a framework for interpreting decoding, assembly and biochemical interactions.<Structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit by B. T. Wimberly and others>[Abstract; Figures 1–2, electron-density maps and structure overview]{ref}
The intellectual advance connected molecular arrangement to a function: how a <ribosome> reads a <messenger RNA> sequence. The <small ribosomal subunit> organizes the interactions of <codons> with <transfer RNA> <anticodons>, so the geometry of its <RNA> and <proteins> constrains explanations of decoding.
A constructed comparison clarifies what a structural measurement contributes. Two models could contain the same list of molecules yet place a functional contact $5\,\text{Å}$ apart in one and $50\,\text{Å}$ apart in the other. Composition alone cannot distinguish them; spatial evidence can. This is not a distance reported in the paper, and nominal <spatial resolution> should not be interpreted as identical coordinate precision for every atom.
Wimberly's institutional biography also describes using complementary structural methods to relate <RNA> organization to biological function.<Brian Wimberly research profile at the New York Structural Biology Center>[First-person biography]{ref}
\Image[https://nysbc.org/uploads/headshots/_1000xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none_ns/10160/Brian-Wimberly.webp]
{title=Brian T. Wimberly}
{description=Portrait identified by the New York Structural Biology Center profile: https://nysbc.org/people/brian-wimberly .}
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