We couldn’t survive without proteins. They’re essential molecules that provide cells with structure, aid in chemical reactions, support communication, and much more. Portion out protein numbers with us below!
10 Trillion
That’s how many proteins scientists estimate are in each human cell.
229,378
That’s how many structures researchers shared with the scientific community through the Protein Data Bank (PDB) from its establishment in 1971 to the end of 2024. The PDB is a global repository for 3D structural data of proteins, DNA, RNA, and even complexes these biological molecules form with medicines or other small molecules.
42
That’s the percent of your body weight (not counting water) that’s made up of proteins.
4
That’s the number of different levels of protein structure:
- Primary, the order of the amino acids in the chain
- Secondary, the way those amino acids interact with one another either as helices or pleated sheets
- Tertiary, the way that chain of amino acids folds to take on a 3D shape
- Quaternary, interactions between multiple proteins
50
That’s, on average, how many nucleotides a human RNA polymerase, a type of protein, condenses into a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule each second. That means an average gene takes about 10 minutes to transcribe from DNA to RNA.
10
That’s about how many amino acids a human ribosome adds into a growing protein every second. This process is called translation.
1
That’s how many minutes it takes for a ribosome to make an average-sized protein. But multiple ribosomes can read the same mRNA molecule at the same time. They space out along the mRNA chain every 100-200 nucleotides for simultaneous translating, each functioning independently to produce its own chain of amino acids.