In the earliest phase of creating human proteins, the protein complex NAC performs an essential task by starting the first steps towards folding proteins into their correct three-dimensional structures. This discovery was made by an international research team led by scientists from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University. They found that the NAC complex binds to the nascent protein building-blocks formed by the ribosome, i.e., the amino acid chains, and initiates the folding that is essential for functional proteins. According to the scientists, the research results provide not only new findings on protein synthesis but also insights into cellular strategies to avoid incorrect folding, which can lead to serious illnesses.

Cutting patterns into elastic materials allows you to unfold those materials into new shapes, and researchers have now demonstrated the ability to control the sequence in which that unfolding happens by magnetizing the materials. The work represents a fundamental advance in our understanding of metamaterial behavior and has also demonstrated its utility in applications focused on absorbing kinetic energy.