“A powerful technique that directly edits proteins in living cells promises to help researchers to study proteins in improved ways.

The technique relies on strings of amino acids called inteins, which can autonomously cut themselves out of proteins. Scientists have now harnessed inteins to splice chemical groups, unusual amino acids and even polymers into target proteins, and can observe how such additions affect a protein’s function and cellular location.

The method was described in a pair of papers in Science, one published today and one in April.

The technique is ‘a very nice addition to the toolbox’, says Mikko Taipale, a molecular geneticist at the University of Toronto in Canada, who was not involved in either study. Just as DNA-editing CRISPR systems have transformed the ability to manipulate genes, intein editors will provide a better way to investigate the form, function and localization of proteins, says Taipale.”

From Nature.