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Article

Biomolecules: Where the Physics of Complexity and Simplicity Meet

FEB 01, 1994
How can a protein fold itself properly in on instant, and how could functional proteins possibly have evolved in the brief span of life on Earth? Addressing such questions, we learn a lot about the physics of complexity.
Hans Frauenfelder
Peter G. Wolynes

Are we moving toward a time when no new and exciting problems appear in physics? Would the vaunted “theory of everything” mean the end of creative physics? A similar scenario was played out at the end of the last century, when some great physicists declared that only minor problems remained to be solved.

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References

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    H. Frauenfelder, F. Parak, R. D. Young, Annu. Rev. Biophys. Chem. 17, 451 (1988).https://doi.org/ARBCEY

  3. 3. J. A. McCammon, S. C. Harvey, Dynamics of Proteins and Nucleic Acids, Cambridge U.P., New York (1987).

  4. 4. M. Mezard, G. Parisi, M. Virasoro, Spin Glass Theory and Beyond, World Scientific, Singapore (1987).
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  5. 5. I. Ibsen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 1916 (1989).https://doi.org/PRLTAO

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  7. 7. J. D. Bryngelson, P. G. Wolynes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 7524 (1987).https://doi.org/PNASA6

  8. 8. J. D. Bryngelson, P. G. Wolynes, J. Phys. Chem. 93, 6902 (1989). https://doi.org/JPCHAX
    E. I. Shakhnovich, A. M. Gutin, Europhys. Lett. 9, 569 (1989).https://doi.org/EULEEJ

  9. 9. D. L. Stein, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82, 3670 (1985).https://doi.org/PNASA6

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  14. 14. R. Goldstein, Z. Luthey‐Schulten, P. G. Wolynes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 4918 (1992); https://doi.org/PNASA6
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  15. 15. R. H. Austin, K. Beeson, L. Eisenstein, H. Frauenfelder, I. Gunsalus, Biochemistry 14, 5355 (1975).https://doi.org/BICHAW

  16. 16. J. Berendzen, D. Braunstein, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 1 (1990).

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More about the authors

Hans Frauenfelder, Los Alamos, National Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign.

Peter G. Wolynes, University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 47, Number 2

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