How did microproteins appear from nowhere?

At Phys.org:

The researchers were surprised to find that the vastly younger microproteins could interact with the much older generation…

However, the ability to bind does suggest the proteins might influence each other’s functioning. Initial cellular experiments conducted at the Max Delbrück Center in collaboration with Professors Michael Gotthardt and Thomas Willnow confirm this assumption. This leads Ruiz-Orera to suspect that the microproteins “could influence cellular processes that are millions of years older than they are, because some old proteins were present in the very earliest life forms.”

Unlike the known, old proteins that are encoded in our genome, most microproteins emerged more or less “out of nowhere—in other words, out of DNA regions that weren’t previously tasked with producing proteins,” says Ruiz-Orera. Microproteins therefore didn’t take the “conventional” and much easier route of being copied and derived from existing versions. And because these small proteins only emerged during human evolution, they are missing from the cells of most other animals, such as mice, fish and birds. These animals, however, have been found to possess their own collection of young, small proteins. – Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, February 17, 2023

So… old proteins were present in the very earliest life forms (and yet, presumably, were complex enough to be identified as proteins?) And “ most microproteins emerged more or less ‘out of nowhere—in other words, out of DNA regions that weren’t previously tasked with producing proteins,’…”?

Like we said before, guys, just keep talking. Face the mike and keep talking…

The paper is open access.

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