WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, TOM ELLENBERGER
Polyubiquitin chains bind to proteins in order to direct them towards specific cellular locations or orchestrate the assembly or break down of large molecules. The current study reveals that the chains can still trigger signaling pathways without being attached to any protein.
Z.P. Xia et al., “Direct activation of protein kinases by unanchored polyubiquitin chains,” Nature, Sep. 3; 461(7260):114-9, 2009. Free F1000 Evaluation.
This classic paper describes the flaws in the current biological paradigm by pointing out how difficult it would be to use biological methods to fix a broken radio. The trouble? Most of the discipline is descriptive but not predictive, and lacks a formal language. Taking a page from engineering may help biologists make sense of complex ...
