THE CRUNCH
Researchers have used AI-based protein design tools to create enzymes that cut up other proteins at chosen spots, according to Ars Technica. The team took the catalytic core of two types of protease, the protein-digesting enzymes found throughout nature, and replaced the entire rest of the protein. The resulting enzymes could be tuned to cut specific proteins in half, and the researchers demonstrated the approach on proteins associated with neurological diseases.
The trick works because peptide bonds, the chemical links that hold a protein's amino acid chain together, are extremely stable on their own, with an estimated half-life of several hundred years. Organisms have evolved proteases that catalyse their break-up, and those enzymes have diversified into countless specialised forms. The researchers essentially short-circuited that diversification process, using AI design tools to generate new variants directly.