This is Ted Health, a podcast from Ted, and I'm your host, Dr. Shoshana Ungerleiter.

We're a month into the new year now, that window where resolutions are still fresh,

but reality is started to settle back in. It's actually the perfect time for reflection.

We've had enough distance from the holidays to see things clearly, but we're still early

enough in the year to shape what comes next.

In health and science, that sense of possibility feels especially alive right now.

We're entering this new year with new tools, new ideas, and even new ways of understanding

the human body and the world we live in. So let's jump in.

As we think about what we'll create and build this year, I think it's also fitting to dig

into the building blocks of life. When I say that, you might picture DNA, that famous double

helix we all learned about in biology class. But here's the thing. DNA is really just the instruction

manual. Proteins are where the actual work happens. They're the molecular machines running

everything in your body right now, fighting off infections, repairing tissue, carrying oxygen

through your blood, sending signals between your cells.

Every single function that keeps you alive depends on proteins doing their jobs with extraordinary precision.

For billions of years, nature has been the only architect of these molecules.

The idea of designing new proteins from scratch, proteins that never existed anywhere in the natural

world, seemed almost impossible, until biochemist Dr. David Baker figured out how to do exactly that.

He's been part of the work that's moved us beyond reading Nature's playbook.

Now we're writing new chapters, and the implications are staggering. We're talking about

designing proteins that could block deadly viruses before they infect us. Proteins that can

break down plastics choking our oceans, or help crops survive in a warming climate. This work earned

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