Targeted protein delivery devices have emerged. Image source: MIT and Harvard Bode Institute [Editor in Chief Circle] The journal Nature reported on the 29th an important achievement in biotechnology: a protein delivery device that uses bacterial "syringes" to inject proteins into human cells. This approach may be very useful for the future application of biomedical therapies in humans, such as gene therapy and cancer treatment. Delivering specific proteins into specific cell types has the potential to treat diseases. Some bacteria have evolved delivery systems that interact with host cells, such as syringes that drive a spike through the cell membrane to inject proteins into the cell. However, little is known about whether these delivery systems can function in human cells, and the mechanisms by which these systems identify target cells. Zhang Feng and his colleagues at the Harvard Bode Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology used artificial intelligence "alpha folding" to predict a suitable bacterial protein structure, typically targeting insect cells, and transformed it to target cultured human cells. They found that this system can be used to efficiently deliver multiple types of proteins to human cells. The researchers have also adjusted this system to target cells in living mice, indicating that the system can be used to introduce proteins into living organisms. Zhang Feng explained that the delivery of therapeutic molecules is a major bottleneck in current medicine, and the team needs a lot of selective research to deliver these powerful new therapies to the correct cells in the body. By learning how nature transports proteins, researchers have developed this new platform to help address this gap. The research team believes that this system will serve as a delivery tool for future human therapies. Scientists can also design other components of the system to adjust their properties so that they can ship more "goods," including DNA or RNA. This is a very beautiful example of protein engineering changing the biological activity of natural systems! It has also been confirmed that protein engineering is a powerful tool for the development of the next generation of biomedical and therapeutic systems. The highlight of this technology is the release of the famous AI "Alpha Fold"; The key to success is that scientists have learned how proteins are transported in nature - a system that is rich in diversity throughout the biosphere, but whose characteristics have been unclear. We believe that this type of system will also play a more important role in the medical community, but everything remains to be explored. (Liao Xinshe)