'Amino acids appear to be one of the most robust molecules that could have been used as the building blocks of life, far more robust than other common biological molecules like sugars and lipids,' he said.

'Thankfully, living things seem to have evolved to use robust amino acids to make up the proteins essential to life, and have their own set of free radical neutralizing molecules called anti-oxidants.'

The team also found that some types of amino acids are more resistant to oxidative damage than others.

The group intends to use this information to improve the performance of designer proteins used in industrial processes.

These results are scheduled for publication in the forthcoming edition of the Journal of American Chemical Society.