Structural alignment is a form of
sequence alignment based on comparison of shape. These alignments attempt to establish equivalences between two or more
polymer structures based on their shape and three-dimensional
conformation. This process is usually applied to
protein tertiary structures but can also be used for large
RNA molecules. In contrast to simple structural superposition, where at least some equivalent residues of the two structures are known, structural alignment requires no a priori knowledge of equivalent positions. Structural alignment is a valuable tool for the comparison of proteins with low sequence similarity, where evolutionary relationships between proteins cannot be easily detected by standard sequence alignment techniques. Structural alignment can therefore be used to imply
evolutionary relationships between proteins that share very little common sequence. However, caution should be used in using the results as evidence for shared evolutionary ancestry because of the possible confounding effects of
convergent evolution by which multiple unrelated
amino acid sequences converge on a common
tertiary structure.
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Mode of bodywork promoted by "BodyMind Therapist" Chuck Ruland (see "Somatic Dialogue" and "Structural Bodywork"). Its purported design is to restore "Balance" physically, emotionally, and "energetically." Apparently, Structural Alignment supposedly: makes a "new way of being" available to clients and precipitates a feeling of being supported by gravity ("the earth's energy field").