The molecular movements involved in tobacco mosaic virus assembly have much in common with the movements the insulin molecule must undergo when it binds to its receptor. Piecing together a picture of how protein molecules in different systems can adapt their conformation in performing their biological function is the principal goal of this project. Realization of this goal is dependent on our methodological developments involving applications of diffuse x-ray scattering, high- and low-resolution x-ray and neutron crystallography, cryoelectron microscopy, fiber diffraction and computer graphics.