Light proves beneficial in study of essential proteins

German scientists have found that by flashing light, they are able to examine how essential proteins work. 

Scientists studying the different functions of proteins typically figure out what they do by examining what happens when they are removed. 

However, in the case of proteins needed for a particular organism to live, this method isn't very enlightening since it tends to die before it can reveal what the role of the protein. Led by professor Heinrich Leonhardt at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat (LMU) in Munich, researchers found a way around this problem by using light or certain chemicals.

“In order to develop this technology, we reprogrammed the cell’s waste disposal system,” Leonhardt said.

The new method was first put to the test when LMU scientists were examining a protein that is essential for reproducing DNA, by temporarily draining a cell of it.  By using this method, biologists were able to discover that the particular protein they were examining fixes DNA damage with such repair proteins.