Proteins – the new superstars

In early September, Japan's mega pop star Hikaru Utada concluded her cross-country concert tour in Yokohama wearing a rainbow-colored dress that outshone all her other tour outfits. A few days later, the Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists from the USA and England.

And just now, somewhere in a kitchen, a steak is most likely sizzling in a pan. At first glance, these three events have absolutely nothing to do with each other, yet they share a common denominator. They all concern proteins.

What are proteins?

Proteins, colloquially also known as proteins, of course, do not look like the slimy interior of a chicken egg. The naked eye cannot see them, and even a professional microscope could do nothing for a long time until a special light microscope was developed that makes proteins marked with fluorescent dyes glow in the cell.

Yet as invisible, fabulous, and hard to comprehend for non-scientists as these proteins also are, that important they are for life on Earth. Heiner Linke, chair of this year's Nobel Prize committee for chemistry, says: "Life cannot exist without proteins. But only if we know what the proteins look like, can we understand how they work."

Simply put, proteins act like chemical tools found everywhere in nature and can take on different functions: They control and regulate chemical reactions, but also act as hormones, signaling substances, antibodies, and building blocks of various tissues, such as muscles, horns, or feathers.

What are proteins made of?

The basis of proteins consists of chains of amino acids , which are strung together in different sequences according to a genetically coded sequence. Figuratively, this amino acid base looks like a string of pearls, but only the three-dimensional "unfolding" of this chain, which resembles an unevenly curled gift ribbon, shows the true function of a protein molecule.

© Spider Inc

Attractive: the Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada in her dress brewed from proteins

About 200 million different proteins there are on Earth, estimates science. Until recently, researchers only knew the structure of around 200,000 proteins – just 0.1 percent. These were deciphered through complicated and very expensive X-ray crystallography.

It often takes several years to determine the curl shape of a single protein. Now this is supposed to happen in a few hours or even minutes. This is made possible by a new computer program called "AlphaFold2" that uses artificial intelligence and was developed by the newly minted Nobel laureates Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper.

This program can predict protein structures from their amino acid sequences. The second award-winning research program called "Rosetta" by laureate David Baker takes exactly the opposite approach: Rosetta designs new proteins that do not occur in nature and investigates what combinations and sequences of amino acids are needed for this newly conceived protein.

Rosetta designs new proteins that do not occur in nature

"Both discoveries can be considered a real breakthrough and open up enormous possibilities," says Heiner Linke from the Nobel Prize Committee. With David Baker's discovery, for example, new antibiotics could be developed, or enzymes that break down plastic or – which would be even better – recycle it.

It would also be possible to create protein-based substances that quickly and reliably detect drugs like Fentanyl or pollutants. David Baker has more ideas for his discovery: "Our method should generally be useful for detecting toxic hydrophobic compounds in the environment be. I myself am very excited about the idea of a nasal spray made from small proteins that would protect against all possible pandemic viruses."

© Adobe Stock

It often takes several years to determine the curl form of a single protein.

As extraordinary as the potentials for Rosetta mentioned above are, so are the possibilities for the AI program AlphaFold2, whose origin story alone could provide material for a movie: For 50 years, researchers have been searching for a method that can predict the three-dimensional structure of the protein from given amino acid chains without the elaborate X-ray crystallography.

Even a special international biochemistry competition was launched for this research. The competition, named CASP, Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction, has been held every two years since 1994 and has always attracted a lot of interest. Only the results stagnated: the predictions remained inaccurate, the methods used proved to be of little use.

The problem was increasingly considered unsolvable in science. Until the chess master, AI pioneer, neuroscientist, and recently awarded Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis participated in the competition.

His interdisciplinary approach and the unobstructed view from outside already brought respectable results to light on the first attempt. His prediction rate wasn't bad, but it still wasn't enough. Hassabis improved and improved, but he was still stuck in a dead end.

AI and the exploration of protein structures

It wasn't until physicist and protein enthusiast John Jumper joined his company Deep Mind that things suddenly progressed. Together, the two led the AI program AlphaFold2 to its current maturity in just two years. This now begins a completely new era in the exploration of protein structures.

From now on, drugs against diseases and new medications can be developed much more precisely. It also opens doors to new research areas. While only about a third of human proteins have been deciphered so far, AlphaFold2 has already calculated a three-dimensional structure for almost all proteins in our organism in record time.

What does this Nobel Prize-worthy development and this new knowledge now bring to the end consumer who stands in front of shelves full of high-protein products in the supermarket and doesn't know what to buy? Currently, not much.

The research of all proteins found in the human body has just begun. Until results are available, the dilemma of choice or personal inclination remains, as to which group one wants to trust in protein nutrition.

© Adobe Stock

Scientists argue about the daily protein requirements.

Two camps are currently facing each other here: The German Nutrition Society , or DGE for short, like other international health organizations, states a daily requirement of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. With a balanced diet, this protein requirement would easily be met in the Western world.

How much protein do you need daily?

Therefore, "high-protein products are rather superfluous." The DGE also doubts the effectiveness of high-protein diets. A scientific study commissioned by the society in 2023 shows "that with adequate energy intake, the daily protein intake in adults probably does not affect body weight, fat mass, and waist circumference."

Others see it differently. First and foremost, the two figureheads of the American longevity movement, the neurologist Andrew Huberman and the physicist Peter Attia with their muscular bodies à la Arnold Schwarzenegger do not at all fit the cliché image of the bespectacled scientist in a white coat, but impressively underline the effectiveness of their advice with their own appearance, brimming with health.

Both recommend a daily protein dosage that is more than double the recommended DGE ratio: According to US experts, one should consume 1.6 to 2.2 grams daily to stay healthy. Protein deficiency, according to Peter Attia, could lead to a loss of muscle mass.

What happens if you consume too little protein?

Furthermore, there is indeed a connection between protein supply and obesity or weight. According to the "protein leverage hypothesis", we overeat and gain weight when we are not sufficiently supplied with proteins in the diet.

Who is right now? What amount is really sufficient? Will future research, based on Nobel Prize findings, provide these answers? Maybe. What is quite certain already is that other industries will study the new insights very carefully.

For example, the Japanese biotech company Spiber , whose slogan is: "We explore proteins for a better future." The company specializing in the development of new generations of biomaterials has succeeded in producing biodegradable polymers from sugar beets and corn.

The process is similar to beer production, except that at Spiber, the end products are resins, films, or fibers that can be processed into various yarns for the fashion industry and used as substitutes for silk, cashmere, or polyester.

This has various advantages, as Spiber co-founder Kazuhide Sekiyama explains: "Sustainability is a central part of our mission. The protein fibers we brew are less burdensome on the environment compared to conventional yarns. They are bio-based and biodegradable, cause fewer greenhouse gases, save water, and minimize land use. There is also no impact on wildlife."

The protein fibers we brew are less burdensome on the environment compared to conventional yarns

The last point convinced British fashion designer and vegan Stella McCartney to try the material. Burberry and The North Face are already customers. Issey Miyake designed the showpiece from Spiber fabric that pop singer Hikaru Utada shone in on stage during her anniversary tour.

The rainbow-colored and futuristic dress made from pleated and brewed proteins proves how much potential is in the invisible proteins. It is foreseeable that we will learn much more about them soon.