This week, we had the opportunity to work with the model kits to see how proteins are structured and with the noodles to make the proteins ourselves. I think that now I have a better idea of how mutations affect proteins and their function because their structures can be altered if the amino substitution is significantly different. It is this reason that even if it is a one amino acid substitution, like in sickle cell, where the glutamic acid residue is replaced by valine, it can cause red blood cells to assume abnormal shapes. Using the hands on models helps me visualize how protein structure can change accordingly from just the primary sequence.