Specialists of Rutgers University (USA) have opened "life bricks" - four basic chemical structures, from which it is possible to create a myriad of proteins inside each organism. They give the energy necessary for man and other living beings for existence. "We do not have records of what the proteins looked like 4 billion years ago, so we had to start with what we have now, and move in the opposite direction, trying to imagine what these proteins might look like," says Vikas Nanda, Project Manager. - This study is the first in which we were able to examine thousands of amino acids and break them into separate pieces. These pieces could have a primordial origin ". The whole work of the researchers conducted on computers, studying three-dimensional models of atomic structures of 9500 proteins in the database of Rutgers. The identification of the four fundamental building blocks of all proteins is just the beginning. According to Nanda, further research will reveal another 5 or 10 bricks that could also be part of the "biological Lego". "Now we have to understand how to combine these elements to get interesting and functional molecules," he says.. "This is the next serious task".

Thanks to this research, scientists will be able to design from these organic blocks proteins and enzymes for biomedical purposes and more reliable and effective industrial catalysts that, like robots, can continuously conduct chemical reactions and transfer energy to perform the tasks. Understanding how these elements are linked together within existing proteins will help bioengineers understand how to create new catalysts that can break down water, restore nitrogen, or perform other very important tasks for society, writes EurekAlert.

Original article: American biologists have discovered "the bricks of life".