Constructing a Novel Molecular World Based on Names

ANS 2025, February 22, 2025 Constructing a Novel Molecular World Based on Names by David Wade (Wade Research Foundation, USA) Peptides and proteins are polymers of amino acid (AA) monomers, and 22 different types of AAs are gene-encoded and found in these polymers. The name-to-peptide method uses 22 of the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet (all letters except B, J, X, and Z), and an internationally recognized single letter nomenclature for the names of AAs, to design and create novel peptides (small proteins), called name peptides. The name peptides are then analysed in silico for potentially useful properties and promising name peptides are chemically synthesized for laboratory testing. An example of the successful application of the name-to-peptide method was the design and creation of peptide WALMART, based on the name of the world’s largest corporation, and it was found to have anticancer and potential antimicrobial properties. The method has been taught to students ranging from the fourth grade to university levels, and this report will describe the results of an exercise taught to biochemistry students at Notre Dame of Maryland University. The names (nouns) chosen for analysis as name peptides were ACADEMIA, FISHES, KRITIKA, PEPTIDE, PINEAPPLE, and SCIENCE. Searches of the US National Institutes of Health protein database, containing the AA sequences of 726,101,206 proteins, revealed that five of the six hypothetical name peptides occurred from 3-4,000 times among the AA sequences of proteins in the database. In silico analyses indicated that one of the six peptides might have antibacterial properties, and that all six might have antiviral properties, including inhibiting infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Biography: David Wade, Ph.D., has extensive, international, postdoctoral, research and teaching experience. He has published about 100 articles of various types, has a patent for a new class of antibiotics with a Nobel Laureate, has presented 68 invited talks in 7 countries, and is the inventor of the name-to-peptide method.