Protein and proteinassembly based material structures

Abstract

Assembly of nanoscale materials and functional hierarchical structures is a big challenge now faced by nanotechnology. Learning from biology, using proteins and protein assembled structures as scaffolds to control the synthesis and organization of materials like living tissues provides the perfect solution to this problem. Proteins can function as versatile building blocks with genetically programmed properties and also offer the capability of hierarchical assembly with nanoscale precision. In this feature article we will review recent progress in using protein structure based scaffolds in creating material structures.