The Physics of Biomolecular Condensation

The ability to control the self-assembly of biological molecules to form defined or functional structures with a high degree of predictability is a central aim for soft matter science and synthetic biology. While this is possible for a variety of colloidal materials, it has been more difficult to achieve for proteins.

In large part, this is due to the complex chemical nature of the protein surface, which influences the assembly process.

It is therefore important to understand this complexity to reveal the mechanisms underlying important processes such as protein crystallization, the pathogenesis of protein condensation diseases, the aggregation of proteins during industrial manufacture and the formation of protein-based materials.