The toxic protein made by golden algae is now the largest ever documented by biologists. They are now calling it the “Mount Everest” of proteins, officially dubbed PKZILL-1.
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00:00This might not look like much, but it's a new world record holder.
00:08This is the toxic protein made by Golden Algae, and experts say it's the largest ever documented
00:13by biologists.
00:14They're now calling it the Mount Everest of proteins, officially dubbed PKZilla-1.
00:20It contains a staggering 45,212 amino acids.
00:24For reference, the previous record holder had just 30,000, meaning it's around 50%
00:29larger than that one.
00:30Meanwhile, average proteins have around just 574 amino acids.
00:34Marine chemist Bradley Moore says that this expands our sense of what biology is capable
00:39of.
00:40Golden Algae is known to wreak havoc on fish populations, and better understanding how
00:44this giant toxic protein kills them could help us help fish.
00:48It's also unclear how the species of algae produces such a protein in the first place.
00:52With Moore adding, understanding how nature has evolved its chemical wizardry gives us
00:56as scientific practitioners the ability to apply those insights by creating useful products,
01:01whether it's a new anti-cancer drug or a new fabric.