Every cell in our bodies contains proteins — they’re critical to our most basic functions, like protecting us against viruses, helping our cells replicate and ferrying oxygen in our blood.
A protein’s three-dimensional shape and size govern its role, but getting a handle on how proteins work has been tough. Creating new proteins from scratch — a prospect with big payoffs for how we treat disease, for instance — has posed another big challenge.
On Wednesday, University of Washington School of Medicine biochemistry professor David Baker was honored for discovering a way to do just that.
“There’s just so many possibilities,” Baker said during an interview with a Nobel Prize official early Wednesday morning. “It’s a whole new world.”
Building blocks of life
Every cell in our bodies contains proteins — they’re critical to our most basic functions, like protecting us against viruses, transporting oxygen in our blood or repairing tissues.
PDB-101, David S. Goodsell, National Library of Medicine (Fiona Martin / The Seattle Times)
Along with two other researchers, Baker was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work designing proteins that aren’t found in nature. Here are three ways his research is already advancing medicine and technology and how his discoveries might help solve other real-world problems.
Drug development and precision medicine
In the earliest days of the pandemic, Baker and his colleagues were busy designing proteins that could stick to a vulnerable part of SARS-CoV-2, a strain of the coronavirus, and block it from infecting or destroying people’s cells.
By 2022, he and his team had used their findings to develop a COVID-19 nasal spray that’s still in development. During tests in mice, an advanced version of their synthetic proteins effectively reduced COVID-19 symptoms and in some cases, prevented infection.
Baker leads UW’s Institute for Protein Design, which has engineered proteins that are now in the drug development pipeline for other medical conditions. One protein, called KumaMax, has promise for treating people with celiac disease, a common autoimmune disease that’s triggered by gluten. The institute is also at work on proteins being used to develop inflammatory bowel disease medications, cancer immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases.
Pollution and climate change
One of the most promising potential applications, Baker said Wednesday, is using engineered proteins to protect the environment by breaking down pollutants, like plastic. Some researchers are already using this idea to engineer proteins embedded in plastic that help make it biodegradable.
Researchers in Baker’s lab are working on creating proteins that could help combat climate change by accelerating the formation of limestone and other natural carbon-storing materials.
Engineered proteins also have the potential to help create new, materials that could be used in everyday products and commercial goods.
Biosensing technology
Proteins found in nature are already widely used as biosensors: For example, they can help detect cancer and sequence DNA.
But manufactured proteins are now helping researchers in Baker’s lab identify small molecules like cholic acid, a marker for liver disease, and thyroxine, a hormone that’s often used to diagnose thyroid diseases. Specially designed proteins could also sense environmental pollutants.
Researchers are also working on proteins that, like a transistor, can toggle between different states. These kinds of proteins can respond to changes in the environment and could open the door to new forms of biosensing technology.
