Survival by Lipids

Abstract

We often tacitly assume that useful devices have to be made of materials that are hard and solid in order to be tough, durable, and functionally reliable. A house, a car, and a computer are excellent examples. Although lipids and other soft materials can be used as templates for producing certain types of hard materials, we would not use the full potential of lipid-based materials if we did not exploit the fact that they are based on self-assembly principles, they are designed to operate as soft materials, and their properties are optimized to function on a small scale. Functional macromolecules (proteins, enzymes, poly-nucleotides) as well as molecular assemblies (membranes, fibers, molecular actuators, and motors) are all designed by evolution to function optionally on the nanometer scale.