KEY TAKEAWAYS

Engineered proteins are critical industrial and medical applications, ranging from vaccine development to making crops or food proteins more resilient.

Scientists can engineer proteins to improve upon nature, but such experiments are time- and labor-intensive.

Researchers have developed an AI-based protein design tool known as EVOLVEPro, which is already showing promise for several applications and could be used to help solve other medical challenges.

In what could be a major advance in understanding the genetic causes underlying human infertility, scientists led by researchers from Rutgers University-New Brunswick have identified a gene variant directly tied to early miscarriages in women.

The discovery of the variant is linked to accelerated reproductive aging, a condition producing high numbers of abnormal eggs that can lead to miscarriages. The findings could alert women to the potential for early infertility and guide them in their approach to reproductive planning and fertility treatment, scientists said.