Shining a Light on the World of Microproteins – Pearson Global News & Education

From viruses to humans, life makes microproteins that have evaded discovery until now.You could be forgiven for assuming that scientists know how many kinds of proteins exist. After all, researchers have been studying proteins for more than two centuries. They have powerful tools in their labs to search for the molecules. They can scan entire genomes, spotting the genes that encode proteins. They can use artificial intelligence to help decipher the complex shapes that allow proteins to do their jobs, whether that job entails catching odors in our noses or delivering oxygen in our blood.But the world of proteins remains remarkably mysterious. It turns out that a vast number of them have been hiding in plain sight. In a study published on Thursday, scientists revealed 4,208 previously unknown proteins that are made by viruses such as influenza and H.I.V. Researchers elsewhere have been uncovering thousands of other new proteins in bacteria, plants, animals and even humans.Many of these newly discovered proteins probably play a vital role in life, according to Thomas Martínez, a biochemist at the University of California, Irvine. “There is no way to get around this,” he said. “If we ever want to understand fully how our biology works, we have to have a complete accounting of all the parts.”For a long time, scientists depended on luck to find new proteins. In 1840, for example, the Friedrich Ludwig Hünefeld, a German chemist, became curious about earthworm blood. He collected blood from a worm and put it on a glass slide. When he looked through a microscope, Hünefeld noticed platelike crystals: He had discovered hemoglobin.A century later, scientists accelerated the search for proteins by working out how our bodies make them. Each protein is encoded by a gene in our DNA. To make a protein, our cells make a copy of this gene in the form of a molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA. Then a cellular factory called a ribosome grabs the messenger RNA and uses it to assemble the protein from building blocks.The search sped up even faster when scientists began sequencing entire genomes in the 1990s. Researchers could scan a genome for protein-coding genes, even if they had never seen the protein before. Scanning the human genome led to the discovery of 20,000 genes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

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From viruses to humans, life makes microproteins that have evaded discovery until now.

You could be forgiven for assuming that scientists know how many kinds of proteins exist. After all, researchers have been studying proteins for more than two centuries. They have powerful tools in their labs to search for the molecules. They can scan entire genomes, spotting the genes that encode proteins. They can use artificial intelligence to help decipher the complex shapes that allow proteins to do their jobs, whether that job entails catching odors in our noses or delivering oxygen in our blood.

But the world of proteins remains remarkably mysterious. It turns out that a vast number of them have been hiding in plain sight. In a study published on Thursday, scientists revealed 4,208 previously unknown proteins that are made by viruses such as influenza and H.I.V. Researchers elsewhere have been uncovering thousands of other new proteins in bacteria, plants, animals and even humans.

Many of these newly discovered proteins probably play a vital role in life, according to Thomas Martínez, a biochemist at the University of California, Irvine. “There is no way to get around this,” he said. “If we ever want to understand fully how our biology works, we have to have a complete accounting of all the parts.”

For a long time, scientists depended on luck to find new proteins. In 1840, for example, the Friedrich Ludwig Hünefeld, a German chemist, became curious about earthworm blood. He collected blood from a worm and put it on a glass slide. When he looked through a microscope, Hünefeld noticed platelike crystals: He had discovered hemoglobin.

A century later, scientists accelerated the search for proteins by working out how our bodies make them. Each protein is encoded by a gene in our DNA. To make a protein, our cells make a copy of this gene in the form of a molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA. Then a cellular factory called a ribosome grabs the messenger RNA and uses it to assemble the protein from building blocks.

The search sped up even faster when scientists began sequencing entire genomes in the 1990s. Researchers could scan a genome for protein-coding genes, even if they had never seen the protein before. Scanning the human genome led to the discovery of 20,000 genes.