Miller is the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of chemistry at John Carroll University.
Copper is necessary for the protein to function and also helps in holding the protein together.
It plays a role in transferring electrons as well as in binding oxygen and in releasing water without harmful oxidants. In the human body, copper can be found in the liver, heart and brain. It is an essential element in humans for lack of copper may lead to diseases that cause mental retardation and an accumulation of copper can lead to liver diseases. The protein Miller uses is similar to human copper proteins, but is harvested from the bark of a Japanese lacquer tree. This bark matrix, actually obtained from Japan or China, is used because it yields a great deal of protein.