Chemical Engineering @ChemengFiles.Com

Researchers from Duke University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute discovered that an ingredient present in many natural proteins acts as a nanosprings of incredible elasticity. The material is called "ankyrin repeats and have the ability to stretch and re-contracting when subjected to loads with an elasticity similar to steel more than other organic materials.

These strings appear in proteins as diverse as plants or human beings, are formed by modules of 33 amino acids, and experiments were found by atomic force microscopy.

They are interesting because they explain the mechanical behavior of living beings at the cellular level (hearing, heart beats) and in turn can have important applications in the fabrication of nanomachines.