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RLRao Lab

Department of Biochemistry · Deccan Institute of Science

Life, at atomic resolution

We solve the structures of proteins that matter for health — and film how they move.

Our researchJoin the lab
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We are biochemists, biophysicists and computational biologists. We use cryo-electron microscopy, crystallography and NMR to see proteins atom by atom, and AI to predict the ones no one has seen yet.

Every structure we solve goes to the Protein Data Bank on the day it is published, and you can turn each one in 3D on this site.

Research

All research
  1. 01Allostery and oxygen transportHow haemoglobin changes shape to pick up oxygen in the lungs and release it in tissues.
  2. 02Viral enzymes as drug targetsStructures of viral proteases bound to inhibitors, to guide new antivirals.
  3. 03AI-predicted structuresTesting and extending AlphaFold models — especially the floppy parts it cannot predict.
  4. 04Fluorescent proteins as sensorsEngineering glowing proteins that light up when cells signal.

In motion · PDB 1D3Z

Proteins are never still

This is ubiquitin as NMR sees it: not one structure but an ensemble of states the protein moves between in solution. Each frame is one of them. Drag to turn it while it moves.

Selected publications

All publications

News

All news
Our haemoglobin structure is published in NaturePriya’s cryo-EM maps reveal a state of haemoglobin no one had seen. Turn it in 3D on our home page!Welcome, Jonah and Ana!Two new members join the lab this semester: Jonah Brooks (PhD) and Ana Souza (MSc).Ananya Rao receives the Swarnajayanti FellowshipThe fellowship supports five years of work on proteins in motion.

We’re recruiting

PhD positions in structural biology · Postdoctoral researcher: cryo-EM · Summer research internships

See open positions

Funding & affiliations