Theodicy: few mistakes in natural protein production (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, November 05, 2021, 01:50 (1113 days ago) @ David Turell

So scientists are studying them and copying:

https://phys.org/news/2021-11-probe-secrets-natural-antibiotic-lines.html

"Every cell is a master builder, able to craft useful and structurally complex molecules, time and again and with astonishingly few mistakes. Scientists are keen to replicate this feat to build their own molecular factories, but first they'll need to understand it.

"'We have thousands of these assembly lines in nature, and they all make unique compounds," said Dillon Cogan, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Stanford chemist Chaitan Khosla. "The dream is to one day be able to recombine pieces from different assembly lines so that we can make useful compounds not found in nature. To do that, we need to know the design principles that make these things work." (my bold)

***

"Using some of the most sophisticated structural biology techniques available, Stanford researchers have learned more about how these molecule-making assembly lines maintains its precise control. The studies, published Nov. 5 in Science, reveal new details of how two such assembly lines propel growing molecules through the construction process.

"The complex molecules in question are called polyketides, a category that includes drugs like statins and antibiotics like erythromycin. While cells synthesize polyketides with ease using assembly lines called synthases, their chemical complexity means chemists struggle to create them in the lab.

"Each synthase can contain dozens of catalytic domains, the chemical stations along the assembly line that add pieces to and modify growing molecular chains."

Comment: researchers are learning to copy God's designed systems so they can make perfect molecules in a manufacturing process. And dhw worries about mistakes God can't control.