Scientists have discovered a protein that can directly halt DNA damage. Better yet, a new study shows it appears to be ‘plug and play’, theoretically able to slot into any organism, making it a promising candidate for a cancer vaccine.
DNA damage response protein C (DdrC) was found in a hardy little bacterium called Deinococcus radiodurans. DdrC seems to be very effective at detecting DNA damage, putting a stop to it and alerting the cell to start the repair process.
But DdrC’s best feature might be that it’s pretty self-contained, doing its job without the help of other proteins.
Leave a reply