Paul Emsley (crystallographer)

Paul Emsley is a structural biologist and software developer known for his contributions to the field of protein crystallography, specifically for the development of the molecular graphics program Coot. He obtained his PhD in crystallography from the University of Cambridge, working on the structure of glutamate mutase. He subsequently held positions at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg.

Emsley's primary focus has been on creating user-friendly software tools for building and refining atomic models of macromolecules based on experimental X-ray diffraction data. Coot (Crystallographic Object-Oriented Toolkit) is widely used by structural biologists worldwide and is recognized for its intuitive interface and powerful features for manual model building, refinement, and validation. He is also involved in improving algorithms and techniques for crystallographic refinement, contributing to the accuracy and reliability of protein structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). His work significantly impacts the structural biology community by enabling researchers to determine and analyze the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules, which is essential for understanding their function and developing new therapeutic strategies.