Found: First Human Protein That Can Edit Other Proteins

Researchers have found a human protein that can build and edit other proteins, according to a new study. The protein called Rqc2 is only called in to do its job by the body when it notices there is a problem and wants to fix it, before it causes more substantial problems.

This is the first time the process has been observed by scientists.

"This surprising discovery reflects how incomplete our understanding of biology is," said study lead author Peter Shen, PhD. "Nature is capable of more than we realize."

Proteins are assembled from amino acids inside cellular structures called ribosomes.

"I love this story because it blurs the lines of what we thought proteins could do," said Onn Brandman, Ph.D, of Stanford University, in a press release.

 "There are many interesting implications of this work, and none of them would have been possible if we didn't follow our curiosity. The primary driver of discovery has been exploring what you see, and that's what we did. There will never be a substitute for that," Brandman added.

According to researchers, the findings of the study can also have implications for new therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington's, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's.

Researchers further added that this illogical sequence might be serving some purposes in the body that are still unknown to us.

Findings of the study were published in the journal Science.