Behind the buzz and beyond the hype: Our Nanowerk-exclusive
feature articles Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 Functional protein
building blocks could be used to fabricate tunable, dynamic
materials (Nanowerk Spotlight) Proteins, large organic compounds
made of amino acids, provide many of the most basic units of
function in living systems. They make up about half of the dry
mass of animals and humans. There may be as many as 1 million
different types of proteins in the human body (it is estimated
that the human proteome is comprised of an average of 5–7
protein isoforms per open reading frame in the human genome and
a further 600 000-odd immunoglobulins present in serum at any
given moment) - nobody really knows. The word protein comes from
the Greek prota, meaning 'of primary importance', and they
actually may become of great importance in nanoscale fabrication
as well. Proteins have an amazing number of functions inside our
bodies: Enzymes serve as catalysts to break down food into
various components; transport prote