RIKEN tagged posts

Engineering the World’s Smallest Nanocrystal with 19 atoms

Proteins use biomineralization to incorporate metallic elements into tissues, using it to create diverse materials such as seashells, teeth, and bones. However, the way proteins actually do this is not well understood.

Now RIKEN CLST & Yokohama City U scientists have used an artificially designed protein to create a cadmium chloride nanocrystal – the smallest crystal reported so far, made up of just 19 atoms – sandwiched b/n 2 copies of the protein.

In 2014, the groups announced development of an artificial protein, called Pizza6, which looks a lot like a pizza cut into 6 identical slices...

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