Metallothionein is a small protein (approximately 6500 Daltons) found in a variety of cells, but whose function is not completely understood. It contains high amounts of sulfhydryl groups from cysteine which gives it metal binding properties that might play a role in metal detoxification. Furthermore, metallothionein is believed to play an important role in metal metabolism. To understand how metallothionein functions, oligonucleotides that have an overlapping region form a template to be used for a DNA extension reaction. Then amplifying the DNA in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) produces multiple copies that will be used in an in vitro transcription/translation protein synthesis system. This will produce the protein which can be purified and then used to characterize its properties. By studying metallothionein’s ability to bind metals, more can be learned about how the protein functions within the cell. Overall, metallothionein should be studied for its interesting properties which could be useful for studying metal detoxification in the human body
