What Is the Shape of the Molecule?

Molecular biologists who study the cell
 Tease apart the functioning of each organelle
 Their minds are down exploring all that microscopic scenery
 Puzzling out the pieces of the cellular machinery
 To get at how a nano-worker tackles its task
 There's one million dollar poser they inexorably ask:
 What is the shape of the molecule?
 The protein molecule in question
 We need the shape of the molecule
 To understand how it works!
 Quite often biochemists like to lend expertise
 To finding brand new substances that hinder disease
 See that pathogenic enzyme? To the virus, it's vital
 So they're seeking an inhibitor to keep that thing idle
 And trial after trial makes their brains a little weary
 Just looking for the chance to raise that million dollar query
 What is the shape of the molecule?
 The protein molecule in question
 We need the shape of the molecule
 To understand how it works!
 From the DNA to the RNA
 To the ribosome to the amino acid chain
 Every biologist knows that's how the process goes
 And when a protein is assembled, it's contents are plain
 But Nature plays her trick, and she is oh so quick
 It is impossible to follow her with any success
 Each protein twists and folds until the form it holds
 Becomes a complicated structure that we cannot guess
 That's why we need to use clever tools
 To figure out the shapes of these molecules!
 An x-ray crystallographer has tricks she applies
 To isolate a protein and make it crystalize
 Then she puts the protein crystal in an x-ray apparatus
 A pattern of reflections forms beyond the crystal lattice
 Computers do the math based on the way the x-rays scatter
 That's one technique for getting at this million dollar matter
 What is the shape of the molecule?
 The protein molecule in question
 We need the shape of the molecule
 To understand how it works!