the.com/protein
the molecular machinery that builds you, breaks down, and rebuilds while you sleep
means A large molecule made of chains of amino acids that does most of the actual work in your cells — building tissue, speeding reactions, carrying signals — and a vital part of your diet.
from Coined in the 1830s, when chemists realized these substances were fundamental to all life. The name traces to Greek 'proteios,' meaning 'primary' or 'of first rank,' itself from 'protos,' 'first' — the same 'first' you hear in 'prototype' and 'protagonist.' The naming is often credited to the chemist Berzelius, who suggested it to a colleague precisely because these compounds seemed to come first, the foundation everything else was built on.
- name origin
- From Greek proteios, meaning of first importance
- folding feats
- Misfolded ones cause Alzheimer's and mad cow disease
- constant turnover
- Your body recycles most proteins within days
- shape is everything
- Function depends entirely on 3D fold, not sequence alone
- sheer count
- Humans build over 20000 distinct kinds
hemoglobin — oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells, 574 amino acids, discovered 1840s
insulin — hormone regulating blood glucose, 51 amino acids, first protein synthesized artificially in 1978
collagen — structural protein in skin and connective tissue, 33% of human body protein by mass
amylase — enzyme breaking down starch in saliva and pancreas, discovered 1831