Research further confirming that cells operate the biological equivalent of an electronics system when engineering new proteins was outlined to the Biochemical Society meeting in Cork last week hosted by UCC Department of Biochemistry.
One of Britain's leading young scientists, Prof Nigel Scrutton, of the University of Leicester, described his ground-breaking work on a group of proteins known as flavoenzymes. These biological catalysts are found in especially high quantities in a species of bacteria isolated from waste water.
This work not only underlines the importance of the new research field of bioelectronics but may, in time, translate into new techniques that will enable scientists to design proteins, he said.
"Tailor-made" proteins are likely to have a valuable role in the treatment of diseases. The research will also have applications in the developing of diagnostic tests for identifying diseases.
In recognition, Prof Scrutton (35) was awarded the society's Colworth Medal, which honours outstanding research in biochemistry by younger scientists. The society's meeting in UCC was attended by some 250 biochemists, mainly from Britain and Ireland.
The "methylotrophic bacteria" featuring in the Leicester University research may be of no clinical significance as they live in unusual environmental niches, yet they contain enzymes which illustrate how electrons are transferred in key cellular reactions.
Prof Scrutton said he hoped to apply this system of "bioelectronics" to conventional electronic hardware. He has shown how the principles of quantum mechanics operate in the bacterial cell, notably in the transfer of hydrogen molecules. Such a mechanism has never been discovered in any other enzyme molecule.
