“Proteins are the worker bees of cells. They get rid of waste, transmit cellular signals and carry out the chemical reactions that enable the human body to function. Without proteins, cells would be unable to function, replicate, and die.
This is not always a bad thing though, said Leuchter, a chemistry major who has been conducting research with Cho for two years. Viruses, bacteria and cancer cells need proteins to reproduce like everything else living in the human body.”