How a faster protein-screening tool could strengthen US rare-earth supply chains

Phys · Apr 22, 2026 · 894 words · By Ashley Piccone

National Security/Supply Chain Resilience

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What to know about National Security/Supply Chain Resilience

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new, high-throughput platform called SpyCI-LAMBS to screen bacterial proteins for their ability to bind rare-earth elements. This technique significantly speeds up the process compared to older, laborious methods, allowing researchers to characterize entire protein families. The data generated is being used to train machine learning models to predict and design new proteins for rare-earth element separation.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 20

Techniques found 1

Topics 1

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How a faster protein-screening tool could strengthen US rare-earth supply chains Gaby Clark scientific editor Robert Egan associate editor To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using…

Why it matters

These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism.

Common ground

But to scale up and advance biomining technology, researchers need a faster way to find and design better proteins.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Glittering Generalities: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this National Security/Supply Chain Resilience story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that In theory, the method could examine any protein for the ability to bind to any element, and the researchers aim to expand their work into other critical metals?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-04-faster-protein-screening-tool-rare.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Glittering Generalities 40% confidence

Using vague, emotionally appealing phrases ('freedom', 'justice') without specifics.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing glittering generalities helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 20 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 10

check_circle Corroborated 7

info Single Source 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “In theory, the method could examine any protein for the ability to bind to any element, and the researchers aim to expand their work into other critical metals.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 2: “Separately, they stick the other side of the button, the SpyCatcher, onto glass beads.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “The result, supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through its Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program, enables the first large-scale picture of how protein sequence relates to metal selectivity in lanmodulins.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the research was supported by DARPA through its EMBER program and that this work provides a large-scale picture of protein sequence relating to metal selectivity in lanmodulins.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The lanmodulin sequence contains four predicted EF-hand motifs: EF1, EF2, EF3, and EF4. The protein binds three equivalents of lanthanum 3+ ions with picomolar affinity and a fourth with approximately…
https://www.biosyn.com/tew/Lanmodulin,-a-rare-earth-element-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The result, supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through its Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program, enables the first large-scale picture of…
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-faster-protein-screening-tool-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Lanthanides (Lns) have been shown recently to be essential cofactors in certain enzymes in methylotrophic bacteria. Here we identify in the model methylotroph, Methylobacterium extorquens, a highly se…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30351021/

help

Claim 4: “SpyCI-LAMBS can skip all purification steps, making it possible to characterize the entire family of lanmodulin proteins.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Although the context implies SpyCI-LAMBS skips purification, the provided evidence does not contain any direct statement or source confirming that SpyCI-LAMBS *eliminates* all purification steps, making a definitive verdict impossible.

schedule

Claim 5: “The team adds one side of the button, the SpyTag, to the lanmodulin protein's DNA, then produces that protein in a small well within their test platform.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “In a recent study, published in Nature Chemical Biology, a team at LLNL invented a high-throughput platform that screens proteins for their rare-earth element binding preferences at an unprecedented scale.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that a team at LLNL published a study in Nature Chemical Biology describing a high-throughput platform to screen proteins for rare-earth element binding preferences.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — EG&G, formally known as Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc., was an American national defense contractor and provider of management and technical services. The company was involved in contracting …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EG&G

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley, California, and Oakland, California, United States. Establish…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Berkeley_National_Lab…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Previous methods required purifying the single protein of interest from over 4,000 different types of proteins contained within the 'protein soup'.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm the difficulty of previous methods, specifically mentioning the need to purify a single protein of interest from a large mixture ('protein soup') containing over 4,000 different proteins.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Bit of Previous is the eleventh studio album by Scottish band Belle and Sebastian, released on 6 May 2022 through Matador Records. It was preceded by the singles "Unnecessary Drama", "If They're Sho…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bit_of_Previous

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of lists of former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives are convicted felons that have been on the list of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_FBI_Ten_Most_Wanted_Fug…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "Previously On" is the eighth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows Maximoff …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Previously_On

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “Patrick Diep et al published their findings in Nature Chemical Biology in 2026.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 9: “This new technique—called SpyTag-Catcher Immobilization of Lanmodulin for Assaying Metal-Binding Selectivity (SpyCI-LAMBS) and pronounced "spicy lambs"—drastically cuts the time required for these experiments and enables data collection that can be used to train machine learning models for protein design.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific name 'SpyCI-LAMBS' and its detailed description regarding time reduction and machine learning training are mentioned across multiple web search results, but the evidence provided does not contain enough independent, distinct sources (e.g., a second news report or academic citation) to elevate this to 'corroborated' beyond the initial set of search results.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Both machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) and cluster expansion models consistently failed to reproduce the experimentally observed phase and convex hull. In contrast, DFT clearly identifie…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jongseong-jang-b30698103_pred…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Train a computer to recognize your own images, sounds, & poses. A fast, easy way to create machine learning models for your sites, apps, and more – no expertise or coding required.
https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Each Machine Learning Crash Course module is self-contained, so if you have prior experience in machine learning, you can skip directly to the topics you want to learn.These modules cover fundamental …
https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course

schedule

Claim 10: “With 96 wells containing 96 different lanmodulins tagged and locked in place, the researchers can simultaneously screen their metal selectivity against a panel of rare-earth elements.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 11: “LLNL scientist and first author Patrick Diep stated that collecting data for 600 proteins took about a month with the new assay, whereas the usual process would have taken three to five years.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results quote LLNL scientist Patrick Diep stating that collecting data for 600 proteins took about a month, compared to three to five years previously.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pandora is a NASA small satellite space telescope designed to study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets (exoplanets that pass in front of their host stars). Pandora will also help identify exopla…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(spacecraft)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hewlett Packard Enterprise El Capitan is an exascale supercomputer, hosted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, United States, that became operational in 2024. It is ba…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan_(supercomputer)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nova was a high-power laser built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, United States, in 1984 which conducted advanced inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments unti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_(laser)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “The team found a relationship between a protein's amino acid sequence and rare-earth element selectivity, and that differences in selectivity may reflect important differences in physiology or ecology of microorganisms with lanmodulin proteins.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 13: “Previous methods required researchers to order custom DNA, transfer it to E. coli bacteria to produce the protein, and then extract the proteins from the bacteria cells.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm that previous methods involved ordering custom DNA, transferring it to E. coli for production, and then extracting the proteins from the cells.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — E. coli and related bacteria possess the ability to transfer DNA via bacterial conjugation or transduction, which allows genetic material to spread horizontally through an existing population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escherichia_coli

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web search NEUTRAL — Escherichia coli is one of the organisms of choice for the production of recombinant proteins.We review the different approaches for the synthesis of recombinant proteins in E. coli and discuss recent…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24860555/

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web search NEUTRAL — Isolation and characterization of a new mutant human cell line unresponsive...
https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tmcb20

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Claim 14: “These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results state that the proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements for metabolism.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism. But to scale up and advance biomining technology, researchers need a faster way to find a…
https://www.llnl.gov/article/54286/new-protein-screening-pla…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Proteins are promising ligands for selective metal capture, but low-throughput assays limit their discovery and design. Now, a high-throughput platform for quantifying the rare earth selectivity ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-026-02176-3

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web search NEUTRAL — Lanmodulin (LanM) is a recently discovered protein that undergoes a large conformational change in response to rare-earth elements (REEs). Here, we use multiple physicochemical methods to demonstrate …
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01303?ref=r…

info

Claim 15: “The team discovered eight distinct clusters of lanmodulin proteins with different rare earth element binding preferences, including one cluster of more than 200 protein variants with improved selectivity against light rare-earth elements.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific details regarding 'eight distinct clusters' and 'a cluster of more than 200 protein variants with improved light rare-earth selectivity' are cited across multiple web search results, but the evidence provided does not include a second, independent source (like a second news report or a different academic citation) to corroborate this specific quantitative finding.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Year 200 (CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 Ab urbe condi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_metres

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "The Two Hundred" is the tenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series American Dad!, and the 200th episode of the series overall. Written by Brett Cawley and Rober…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Hundred

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Claim 16: “The wellspring of new data from this platform is being used to train machine learning algorithms to predict how a given protein will bind to rare earths.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 17: “The LLNL team collaborated with researchers at The Pennsylvania State University to perform detailed validation of select protein variants.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 18: “SpyCI-LAMBS works based on two biomolecules that bind and stay together like a two-sided button that permanently snaps into place.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 19: “Some new proteins were able to complete traditionally challenging rare-earth element separations in a single step.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 20: “Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous in magnets, batteries, and electronics.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate rare-earth elements for domestic supply chain security.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous in m…
https://www.llnl.gov/article/54286/new-protein-screening-pla…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-faster-protein-screening-tool-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have developed SpyCI-LAMBS, a high-throughput platform that screens bacterial lanmodulin proteins for rare-earth element binding preferences far ...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/llnl-debuts-rapid-prote…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.