THE COLOR OF NORTH

Tiny machines performing big miracles.

Proteins are “the tiny machines that facilitate nearly all biological functions in every organism that has ever lived. They power our very existence.” From this mouthful of an opening, this vivid book moves on to celebrate proteins and the ways we both harness them and improve on them to target everything from disease to environmental decay. The scientist-authors successfully make the case that nature has them beat; nature is the greatest scientist of all, given the billions of years it has had to perfect, via evolution, the magnificent biochemical processes of proteins. Nature’s proteins help bacteria to survive in nuclear reactors and microorganisms to survive in deep-sea vents. Proteins keep birds “in sync with the magnetic field of the Earth” and give fireflies “their ghostly glow.” Trees “quietly use proteins to capture carbon dioxide, turning this harmful greenhouse gas into a sweet nectar of maple syrup.” And yeast enzymes “perform a kind of miracle, turning grapes into wine.” As a result, scientists globally examine “antifreeze proteins” in hibernating animals to make organs for transplant last longer outside the body. They study carbon-capture proteins to determine how to break down and transform pollutants. Already, scientists have harnessed proteins to save/extend lives with targeted proteins called antibodies: Herceptin and Avastin have cured countless cancers this way, and Humira so successfully mitigates arthritis that it is the most popular antibody-drug of the 120 approved by the FDA. Even the paradigm-shifting gene-editing tool CRISPR took its cue from proteins. Every day these “tiny machines…perform big miracles,” the authors conclude. “Whatever our future holds, proteins are positioned to lead the way.”

An accessible look at some of the fascinating ways nature informs, and endlessly inspires, scientists.