Emory scientists have discovered that simple peptides can organize into bi-layer membranes. The finding suggests a "missing link" between the pre-biotic Earth's chemical inventory and the organizational scaffolding essential to life.
"We've shown that peptides can form the kind of membranes needed to create long-range order," says chemistry graduate student Seth Childers, lead author of the paper recently published by the German Chemical Society's Angewandte Chemie. "What's also interesting is that these peptide membranes may have the potential to function in a complex way, like a protein."
When the peptides form this bi-layer, they can repel water. This allows them to form the membranes of nuclei. The new knowledge they now have has taught them much about the origins of life. They are also applying this knowledge to help understand disease like diabetes and Alzheimer's.
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