On Nov. 9, 2015, the Human Dark Proteome Initiative was launched. The initiative aimed to accelerate research into biology’s “invisible mass” to provide novel insights into cell function and a new frontier in drug discovery.

The term “dark proteome” describes the large portion of the proteome—the complete collection of proteins in an organism—that do not adopt defined 3D structures. These little-studied proteins make up about one third of the human proteome and control many aspects of cellular behavior. Recent developments in technology, including advances in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy methods, now make it possible to look in detail at these “intrinsically disordered proteins” (IDPs) and the “intrinsically disordered regions” (IDRs) of these molecules.

Wright and Kriwacki emphasized that dramatically expanded investment in basic and translational research into the dark proteome is needed to achieve the full potential for understanding and developing cures for many devastating diseases.