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Enzymes: Programmable Nanorobots

Researchers at UNIGE, as part of an international collaboration, have developed a new way of understanding how enzymes work—these proteins that are essential to life. Present in all cells, they accelerate crucial chemical reactions such as digestion or energy production.

It was already known that enzymes undergo slight movements as they perform their functions. But thanks to cutting-edge technology—nano-rheology—scientists have managed to observe these tiny movements with unprecedented precision, down to the scale of a few atoms. By combining these observations with models from physics, they have shown that enzymes behave like small, flexible machines, whose efficiency depends on their elasticity and the internal friction between their components.

��This new perspective makes it possible to predict how an enzyme reacts to changes in its associated genetic code. Laboratory experiments confirmed that some mutations go unnoticed, while others, which alter the enzyme’s mechanical properties, can completely block its activity. This finding also helps explain why certain parts of the genetic code have remained unchanged throughout evolution: they are simply crucial for survival.��

“Our results show that enzymes are not just chemical catalysts, but also mechanical objects finely tuned by evolution. It’s a new way of thinking about life—as a programmable physical system,” explains Professor Jean-Pierre Eckmann, co-author of the study.

By bridging mathematics, physics, and biology, this study marks a major step forward in understanding the complexity of life—and could one day pave the way for new applications in medicine, biotechnology, or the fight against certain diseases.