MOLECULAR "hairpins" that clog DNA may some day offer a universal strategy for stopping viruses and bacteria in their tracks. The idea is that these artificial molecules will bind tenaciously to specific DNA sequences, and prevent vital genes in invading microorganisms from being activated.
Genes are turned on by specific proteins that grip particular DNA sequences. Biologists have long studied the chemical makeup of proteins in the hope of building gene-seeking molecules of their own, which could turn off the switch.
But according to Peter Dervan, a chemist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the study of natural proteins has led to a disheartening conclusionthere are no general rules that will allow researchers to predict how a particular protein works. Each protein essentially reinvents the wheel. "That's OK for evolution because each protein could scavenge for the right pieces for millions of years," he says. "But as a ...
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