Researchers create ‘Iron Man’ suit for proteins

Asst Prof Chester Drum from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at NUS has figured out a first – a way to fold a protein using a highly stable shell which wraps around the unfolded substrate, moulding it like hands mould clay, and then protecting it from harm. Because a protein’s shape influences what it can do, this potentially allows  Prof Drum and his team to create a tough version of a protein that the body needs, and which could in future help in the treatment of a disease like cancer. The breakthrough was published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications in December 2017.

• The Straits Times, 29 December 2017, Science, pB11