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HOW DESIGNER PROTEINS COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE
…the enzyme (a protein) has enormous significance as a bioengineering standard bearer. It is the one of the latest in what could emerge as an entirely new class of drugs: protein-based medicines that are built from scratch, not found in nature.
…Proteins allow cells to communicate, protect the body from disease, and carry out other crucial functions that have evolved over more than a billion years. But “humans have changed the planet a lot, and there a lot of new challenges,” Baker says. “To address those challenges, we need to make new proteins.”… we need to make new proteins.” Traditionally, that required modifying the DNA encoding the amino acid building blocks of proteins, which govern how they fold into 3-D shapes, which in turn, determines their function. Baker’s team initially used this approach – “Neanderthal protein design” – to reshape existing enzymes. But this sometimes caused them to fold in unpredictable ways. So, they decided to circumvent evolution and build from scratch.
…improvements in computing power have allowed Rosetta and other protein design software to run faster, while molecular biology advances have made synthesizing the genes and peptides needed to generate these designed proteins in the lab easier and cheaper than ever. “The potential for new proteins is really only limited by the imagination,” says Ingrid Swanson Pultz, Chief Scientific Officer of PvP Biologics.
…Most protein design research nowadays focuses on developing the building blocks of proteins, says Dek Woolfson of the University of Bristol. His lab has designed self-assembling protein cages that could one day shuttle and release drugs, or act as broad-spectrum vaccines. Andrew Jamieson’s lab at the University of Glasgow has even engineered new amino acids to bridge, or “staples,” the loops of a spiral structure common in proteins, known as an alpha helix.
…“I’m not scared of the fact that it’s engineered, …I’d definitely be willing to try,” (says a celiac disease patient). “
...f we just eat decent food
originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: rickymouse
...f we just eat decent food
Please explain in detail how that's possible in a world where all the air, water and soil is totally contaminated.
originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: rickymouse
All the foods you name are grown in contaminated soil that is depleted of essential nutrients, and 'fed' with contaminated air and water. Hate to be the one to to break it to you, but that's ng. You might want to look up the concept of "plant uptake."
originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: rickymouse
Any chance you could stick to the topic? Consider it's implications? Comment directly on the subject? In case you forgot, this is it:
How Designer Proteins Could Change Your Life