Proteins have been considered as inert organic matter. But recently, the specialists detected a certain protein with a special property, conducting electricity. If this discovery could be used, a new diagnostic tool for diseases capable of identifying single protein molecules by means of an electric pulse could be created.
According to the Science Alert, after over four years of study from the original experiment, the University of Arizona team improved the discovery. They created a DNA and an amino acid reader. These readers can block individual molecules between electrodes, a technology known as recognition tunneling.
After achieving a success over the single molecules, the researchers went to the next level and tried to detect the same electrical impulse across the protein. They found that when the alphaVbeta3 protein was between the two electrodes there was an ‘extremely high electronic conductivity’. In the years to come, the team tried to find an explanation for this phenomenon. Lindsay was inspired by the work of physician Gabor Vattay, of the Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary. He presented a theory based on quantum mechanics through which proteins are “balanced” in a special state, between conductivity and isolation.
In the experiments, specialists could create a device by which they could activate and deactivate the electrical conductivity of the protein.
