Scientists have created whole new enzyme proteins of AI to speedup chemical reactions using machine learning. This is a significant advancement in the field of protein design since new enzymes have numerous uses in manufacturing processes for both industrial and medical products. “The chemistry of living things is astounding. They use enzymes to break down or build up whatever they require under mild settings rather than hazardous substances or high temperatures. Renewable chemicals and biofuels may be feasible with the help of new enzymes “According to senior author David Baker, who also holds the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and is a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Using machine learning techniques, a team at the Institute for Protein Design at UW Medicine created luciferases, which are light-emitting enzymes, as was revealed on February 22 in the journal Nature. The new enzymes’ ability to identify particular substances and emit light effectively has been demonstrated in laboratory tests. In the Baker Lab, Andy Hsien-Wei Yeh and Christoffer Norn, two postdoctoral researchers, were in charge of this experiment.
The scientists initially decided which substances known as luciferins they wanted the proteins to react with in order to make new luciferase enzymes. Scientists then created thousands of potential protein structures that might interact with those compounds using software. While testing in the lab, the researchers discovered an effective enzyme they named LuxSit (Let there be light). The desired chemical reaction was carried out by the enzyme. The performance of the enzyme was dramatically enhanced. An improved enzyme known as LuxSit-i produced enough light to be seen with the unaided eye. The shining sea pansy Renilla reniformis was found to contain a natural luciferase enzyme, but this one was proven to be brighter. “Instead of depending on naturally occurring enzymes, we were able to create very effective enzymes from scratch on the computer. Thanks to this discovery, it should be possible to create unique enzymes for practically any chemical process “Yeh stated.
Novel enzymes may be useful in biotechnology, medicine, cleaning up the environment, and manufacturing. Enzymes, for instance, can enhance the production of biofuels, food processing, and pharmaceuticals in the biotechnology industry. Enzymes have both medicinal and diagnostic uses in medicine. By eliminating pollutants or sanitizing contaminated areas, enzyme design can help the environment. Enzymes could also help create novel materials like biodegradable plastics and glue. The University of California, Los Angeles was one of the collaborators on this study, which was directed by researchers from the UW School of Medicine. The United World Antiviral Research Network, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (1 U01 AI151698-01), Audacious Project at the Institute for Protein Design, Open Philanthropy Project Improving Protein Design Fund, Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF18OC0030446), National Science Foundation (CHE-1764328, OCI-1053575), and Eric and Wendy Schmidt by recommendation all provided funding for this research. An incomplete set of computational resources was made available by the National Natural Science Fund of China (22103060).
