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Protein assemblies

Identifying nature’s smallest fractals

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 31, pages 1147–1149 (2024)Cite this article

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Snowflakes, seashells and Romanesco broccoli are striking examples of fractal geometries in nature. A recent study published in Nature defines a set of molecular mechanisms for fractal assembly by identifying a nanometer-scale, regular fractal assembled from a native protein found in blue-green algae that likely arose as an evolutionary accident.

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Fig. 1: A Sierpiński triangle from proteins.
Fig. 2: Conditions for Sierpiński triangle assembly from a protein.

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Acknowledgements

I thank J. Kollman for helpful discussions and feedback during the preparation of this article. This work was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (grant no. R35GM149542 to J. Kollman).

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Kelli L. Hvorecny

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  1. Kelli L. Hvorecny
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Correspondence to Kelli L. Hvorecny.

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Hvorecny, K.L. Identifying nature’s smallest fractals. Nat Struct Mol Biol 31, 1147–1149 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01368-6

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