Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) have now developed a new strategy for the formation of hybrid materials from synthetic polymers and proteins. They have thus been able to fuse the specific biological functions of proteins with the advantageous bulk and processing properties of plastics. Polymer-protein hybrid materials may be of use in the manufacture of sensors, nanomachine parts, or drug-delivery systems. As Aaron P. Esser-Kahn and Matthew B. Francis report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, they have successfully synthesized a green-fluorescing biodegradable gel that responds to changes in pH value and temperature.
