New proteins ‘out of nothing’ – Phys.org

Proteins are the key component in all modern forms of life. Hemoglobin, for example, transports the oxygen in our blood; photosynthesis proteins in the leaves of plants convert sunlight into energy; and fungal enzymes help us to brew beer and bake bread. Researchers have long been examining the question of how proteins mutate or come into existence in the course of millennia. That completely new proteinsand, with them, new propertiescan emerge practically out of nothing, was inconceivable for decades,…

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