Team discovers naturally occurring DNA-protein hybrids

Thanks to a serendipitous discovery and a lot of painstaking work, scientists can now build biohybrid molecules that combine the homing powers of DNA with the broad functional repertoire of proteins -- without having to synthesize them one by one, researchers report. Using a naturally occurring process, laboratories can harness the existing molecule-building capacities of bacteria to generate vast libraries of potentially therapeutic DNA-protein hybrid molecules.