Synthetic enzymes can be catalysts for artificial life

A new study from Princeton has brought a big step forward for the future by asserting that an artificial protein that the research team developed could act as an enzyme in living bacteria.

Over the years, the Princeton team created artificial proteins for E. coli, a simple bacterium commonly used as a clinical trial in medicine. To test the viability of the project, the researchers removed some genes that could lead to bacteria unable to produce the Fes enzyme, which cells use to obtain iron. Without that important mineral, the bacteria would not survive, but the team then implanted artificial proteins that could replace the lost function to "save life" or revive bacteria.

In this new study, researchers have determined how new proteins work. They found that two of them saved E. Coli by compensating for lost enzymes that could boost production of other processes in the cell.

Ann Donnelly, lead author of the study, said: "This artificial protein has a scientific name, Syn-F4, is actually an enzyme."

An artificial enzyme like Syn-F4 is an important step to develop synthetic biological experiments. Not only can these life forms be designed to develop food, fuel and medicine effectively, but they can also help us understand how life can arise in other circumstances - for example on other planets .

"We have released 0.1% of the E. coli genome. Until now, it was a strange E. coli, containing some artificial genes that allow bacteria to grow easily. In fact, the experts hypothesize that if the amount of artificial enzyme replaced up to 10-20% success rate, this E. coli is no longer strange but it becomes a new organism.

The study has just been published in Nature Chemical Biology.

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