The Orderly Choas Of Proteins

It is a widespread misconception that all proteins need to fold into their rigid 4° structure before they are active. They are required to be shaped specifically for target molecules with precise active sites and catalytic sites. However it is beginning to emerge that there are many proteins that don't take on a structure at all. And they are extremely active.



The lack of folding was always considered pathology, that lead to disease and limited function, but to be fluid is now believed to be crucial for some proteins functions. In fact, about 1/3 of the body's proteins are thought to be "intrinsically Disordered" having at least some unfolded or disordered parts. This fluidity allows proteins to adapt to different target molecules and perform more than the traditionally thought one task. There is also evidence that these types of proteins may have been the first to evolve, performing several tasks in life's early evolution.

I think there is a lot of sense behind this discovery. Our body's functions and different metabolic pathways are so complex and efficient, that modern science can't duplicate them. Science has come along way in the past couple hundred years, but do to the technological evolution that we live in, there will be a lot more advances, and insights to come. This is still the beginning.