Richard Baxter, a postdoctoral researcher in biochemistry at UT Southwestern, spoke to the
Exploring Post on October 29th. Dr. Baxter is part of a team that has uncovered the structure of a molecule from the mosquito's immune system that binds to a parasite that causes malaria. The team has focused on TEP1, a protein in the mosquito's immune system. The leader of the team, Johann Deisenhofer, won the Nobel Prize for his X-ray crystallography technique. Dr. Baxter gave the Explorers the opportunity to actually make crystals which was very entertaining.