New discovery makes it easier to design synthetic proteins that rival their natural counterparts.

In a recent publication in Nature, research led by the Ting Xu group demonstrates for the first time a synthetic materials that can selectively transport protons across membranes at rates similar to those found in transmembrane proteins. Natural proton channels require defined amino acid sequences and highly ordered structures to function, but the synthetic materials showcased here, random heteropolymers based on four monomers, demonstrate that chemical heterogeneity and a statistically controlled distribution of monomers is sufficient to reproduce channel-like behavior. These design principles and the diversity of monomers available, combined with the scalability of the synthesis, provides an opportunity to rethink how we interface the synthetic and biological worlds. Read more here.