Protein

Google DeepMind's groundbreaking new AI predicts not only the structure of proteins, ligands, DNA, RNA and "all of life's molecules," but how they'll interact. It promises a radical, revolutionary acceleration in many fields of science.

Barbecue is serious business, and some of the most serious about it hail from Texas. Chemist Jeremiah Gassensmith insists that while it's as much an art as a science, knowing more about the "circus of chemicals" can help anyone master a brisket.

A powerful new adhesive can grip strongly in extreme temperatures, from the deep freeze of liquid nitrogen to the sweltering heat of an oven. Better yet, it can be broken back down into its component parts and reused without losing strength.

Researchers have developed a new type of artificial muscle that’s entirely made out of natural proteins. Responding to changes in its environment allows the muscle to flex on demand, which could make it useful for implants, prosthetics or robots.

"Muscle shirt" may soon take on a whole new meaning. A team has found a way to use bacteria to produce synthetic muscle proteins, which can then be spun into fibers to make clothing, protective gear and biomedical implants and prosthetics.

When shrimp are processed at seafood plants, the resulting wastewater contains a lot of protein. Scientists have now devised a method of harvesting that protein, so it can be used to supplement animal feed or food for humans.

Strong as steel and tougher than Kevlar, spider silk is one of nature’s most impressive materials. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis have now engineered bacteria to produce biosynthetic spider silk that they say performs as well as the real stuff.

Lightweight and extremely strong, spider silk is ideal for use in many applications. Unfortunately, large numbers of spiders are hard to handle and produce very little silk individually. Now researchers have created a prototype process to spin silk thread grown by bacteria on a large scale.

Sticky hands resulting from melted ice cream could become a thing of the past thanks to scientists in Scotland who have discovered a naturally-occurring protein that can be added to ice cream to make it melt more slowly.

Farm 432 is a device for kitchens that breeds and collects fly larva as a renewable protein source for less squeamish diners. As unappetizing as it may sound, the designer hopes that convincing the Western world to add insects to its diet could help increase the planet's overall food supply.

Using blood, milk and mucus proteins, researchers have created transistors they claim could form the basis of a new generation of electronic devices that are both flexible and biodegradable.