New diagnostic proteins found
Researchers discovered resilient DNA‑binding proteins in volcanic lakes and deep‑sea vents that survive extreme heat and chemistry — a potential game changer for disease testing and diagnostics, according to the March 14 report Hidden deep-sea proteins could supercharge disease tests | ScienceDaily. The paper highlights how these proteins’ stability could speed and broaden molecular assays in harsh conditions Hidden deep-sea proteins could supercharge disease tests | ScienceDaily.
A Durham‑led team published "Structure, function, and applications of two novel phage recombinases from extreme environments" in Nucleic Acids Research on 11 February 2026, reporting the discovery and characterization of the enzymes. academic.oup.com The paper names the proteins UvsX t and UvsX p and says they were uncovered by metagenomic screening as part of the EU‑funded Virus‑X project that involved partners in Iceland, Norway and Poland. academic.oup.com High‑resolution crystallography resolved UvsX t at 2.0 Å and UvsX p at 2.6 Å, showing a conserved RecA‑like core with distinctive N‑terminal features linked to oligomerization. academic.oup.com Biochemical assays in the study found both enzymes had greater DNA strand‑exchange activity than Escherichia coli RecA, and the authors report that UvsX t "enhances loop‑mediated isothermal amplification" by stabilizing single‑stranded DNA intermediates in lab tests. academic.oup.com Experimental work demonstrating improved detection included RT‑LAMP targeting SARS‑CoV‑2 RNA, with the Durham press release noting faster and more sensitive readouts when the new protein was included. dur.ac.uk Field samples originated from Icelandic volcanic hot springs and hydrothermal vents more than 2 kilometres beneath the North Atlantic, collected under the Virus‑X sampling framework described by the team. dur.ac.uk The paper frames these recombinases as additions to an "enzyme toolkit" for diagnostics; prior recombinase engineering and RT‑LAMP studies have achieved limits of detection as low as ~2 RNA copies per reaction, pointing to a plausible pathway for translating the new enzymes into faster, low‑resource assays. colab.ws
