Taming a Cancer Protein, Every FingerPrint is not unique and did we discover Alien Life?
January 18
This week we learn about a new method to tame a protein that is related to 75% of all proteins. We discover that the belief that every fingerprint is unique is actually incorrect. We examine a new method for changing the shape of objects autonomously and we speculate about a possible discovery of alien life (just not little green people that have the capability to build interstellar space ships).
Taming a Cancer related Protein
In a healthy cell the MYC protein helps guide the transcription of genetic information from DNA into RNA and eventually into proteins. This activity is strictly controlled in healthy cells however in cancer cells it becomes hyperactive. MYC acts like a steroid that promotes cancer’s rapid growth and it is involved in 75% of cancers.
Controlling MYC has proven very difficult. It is essentially a glob of randomness. Unlike other proteins it has no structure. Conventional drug discovery relies on a well defined structure. However a team from University of California Riverside may have found a solution.
The team has found a peptide compound that binds to MYC and suppresses its’ activity. The team discovered that changing the rigidity and shape of a peptide improves its ability to interact with a structureless protein such as MYC. Peptides can form a variety of forms, shapes and positions. However once you bend them into a ring they cannot morph into other shapes. This gives the peptide a low level of randomness that helps with the binding to MYC.
The team then developed a new peptide that binds directly to MYC with close to the strength of an antibody. It is a very strong and specific interaction. Lipid nanoparticles are used to deliver the peptide into cells however they are not ideal as a drug.
The next step is to develop a better solution that improves the lead peptides ability to get inside cells. Once the peptide is inside the cell it will bind to the MYC, changing the MYC’s physical properties and preventing it from performing transcription activities.
Not Every Fingerprint is Unique
A team from Columbia University in New York has used an AI to analyze a public database of 60,000 fingerprints and discovered that the system could determine when two different finger prints came from the same person. It has long been believed that every finger, even on a single individual had a unique fingerprint.
The team used an AI known as a deep contrastive network. They fed the fingerprints into the system in pairs. Sometimes each pair came from the one person (but different fingers), sometimes different people. The system learnt to identify when pairs of fingerprints came from the same person.
The accuracy for a single pair was 77% however when multiple pairs were presented the accuracy was significantly higher. The team discovered that the AI was using a new forensic marker that has not been traditionally used. The AI was not using the minutiae (the branching and endpoints in fingerprint ridges). It was using the angles and curvature of the swirls and loops in the center of the fingerprint.
The AI needs to be validated however the team presented evidence that it performs similarly across races and gender. Further training with vastly larger datasets will further improve the accuracy. If the system can be accepted by the courts it may provide proof in cases where a perpetrator leaves prints from different fingers at two different crime scenes. This may improve conviction rates or potentially release innocent people.
Planes that can change shape in Flight
A team at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have developed a method for materials and objects to take on different shapes by themselves. They develop a method of micro scale melting and cooling of materials (plastics and metals) which can then be manipulated to reorganize their mass and from new shapes.
The method relies on lasers to melt and shift the materials, bit by bit, so that it moves from one side of an object to another. Everything is shifted a few tens of micrometers during each cycle. Objects can be reshaped to pass through narrow gaps and to be reconstituted into any desired shape.
The team is envisioning endless possibilities including cars and airplanes that constantly adjust their shape to optimize drag, meeting rooms where extra seats are generated on demand and tools that can be created when needed. I am not so sure about a plane that changes shape mid flight. If the plane ever changed my discounted economy seat into a First Class cabin I would accept it however a plane that changed the shape of the wings and fuselage? Call me old school but no thanks.
Has the James Webb Telescope discovered Alien Life?
There is a rumor circulating in scientific circles that signs of life have been spotted on a planet known as K2-18b. This planet is an ocean world about 8.6 times larger than earth and approximately 120 light years away.
JWTS identified a bio signature for a molecule called dimethyl sulfide. This is a smelly substance that on earth is only produced by living organisms. The planet is in the stars inhabitable zone (known as the Goldilocks zone). It has a hydrogen rich atmosphere.
Scientists are being hopeful however it is possible that the dimethyl sulfide is being produced by a non living source. On earth it can come from boiling some vegetables and bacteria contamination in malt production and brewing. Maybe an alien brewery is releasing gas into the atmosphere as a signal to us on earth “Visit us, we have beer”.
Unfortunately it will take much more study and several years before any genuine scientist will claim that we have found alien life. Until then social media will be full of conspiracy theories and explanations. In the meantime enjoy a cold brew and ponder the possibility of one day drinking beer from another planet.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please comment below.
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Till next week.