4 ms·

AlphaFold helps the _design_ problem. ... but, How good are we at synthesizing the actual protein? Unless there are some breakthrough recently, Looks like we

AlphaFold helps the _design_ problem. ... but, How good are we at synthesizing the actual protein? Unless there are some breakthrough recently, Looks like we can't really do it at scale. Doing a few in lab setting is possible, but you can't really use them in drug.

shiandow 2y ago
In theory at least you could produce the mRNA and duplicate it and use it to produce the proteins. Though I'm probably missing a few steps here. A large part of this seems to be possible though, given the success of mRNA vaccines. Though using humans rather than animals to produce the actual protein is less than ideal.
- afthonos 2y ago
  In theory, the difference between theory and practice is zero.
  - aaronmdjones 2y ago
    I've heard this phrased as "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."
- maxerickson 2y ago
  The methods for producing antibodies are well understood. There were several different monoclonal antibodies produced for use in treating Covid infections. I imagine the harder part is finding the most effective ones to manufacture, as it is still quite costly. Harvesting serum from a live animal has the benefit of harvesting whatever antibodies have been produced, rather than a single specific one, so an effective antivenom might need to be composed of a number of monoclonal antibodies.
flobosg 2y ago
> How good are we at synthesizing the actual protein? Quite good actually. Recombinant insulin is one example.
- cogman10 2y ago
  TIL. I didn't realize insulin was being produced like this. Is this a common form of insulin and how does the price compare to the old pig insulin? For something like an antivenom that hardly matters. But just curious on what it means for a daily protein dose.
  - maxerickson 2y ago
    In richer countries, essentially all insulin on the market uses recombinant insulin. The $25 vials at Walmart are a human insulin. More recent formulations modify the insulin to act faster or last longer, but they are based on human insulin.

shiandow 2y ago

In theory at least you could produce the mRNA and duplicate it and use it to produce the proteins. Though I'm probably missing a few steps here. A large part of this seems to be possible though, given the success of mRNA vaccines. Though using humans rather than animals to produce the actual protein is less than ideal.

afthonos 2y ago
In theory, the difference between theory and practice is zero.
- aaronmdjones 2y ago
  I've heard this phrased as "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."
maxerickson 2y ago
The methods for producing antibodies are well understood. There were several different monoclonal antibodies produced for use in treating Covid infections. I imagine the harder part is finding the most effective ones to manufacture, as it is still quite costly. Harvesting serum from a live animal has the benefit of harvesting whatever antibodies have been produced, rather than a single specific one, so an effective antivenom might need to be composed of a number of monoclonal antibodies.

flobosg 2y ago

> How good are we at synthesizing the actual protein? Quite good actually. Recombinant insulin is one example.

cogman10 2y ago
TIL. I didn't realize insulin was being produced like this. Is this a common form of insulin and how does the price compare to the old pig insulin? For something like an antivenom that hardly matters. But just curious on what it means for a daily protein dose.
- maxerickson 2y ago
  In richer countries, essentially all insulin on the market uses recombinant insulin. The $25 vials at Walmart are a human insulin. More recent formulations modify the insulin to act faster or last longer, but they are based on human insulin.