Proteinoid
Sign in to saveAlso known as thermal proteins
Proteinoids, or thermal proteins, are protein-like, often cross-linked molecules formed abiotically from amino acids. Sidney W. Fox initially proposed that they may have been precursors to the first living cells (protocells). The term was also used in the 1960s to describe peptides that are shorter than twenty amino acids found in hydrolysed protein, but this term is no longer commonly used.
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- History
- Polymerization
- Legacy
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Proteinoids, or thermal proteins, are protein-like, often cross-linked molecules formed abiotically from amino acids. Sidney W. Fox initially proposed that they may have been precursors to the first living cells (protocells). The term was also used in the 1960s to describe peptides that are shorter than twenty amino acids found in hydrolysed protein, but this term is no longer commonly used.
==History==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Proteinoid” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.