New artificial system mimics nature's catalysts

Using synthetic biology, EU-funded scientists successfully built an artificial catalyst that can imitate biochemical synthetic pathways that are important for future biomedical, nanotechnology and materials science applications.

An emerging pathway in the development of novel catalytic systems is incorporation of small molecule catalysts into supramolecular structures, which allows to achieve unprecedented degrees of control over the reactivity and selectivity of the obtained synthetic supramolecular catalysts. Due to their unique properties amino acids and peptides have led to a significant expansion in the field of artificial enzymes. They are amongst the most attractive building blocks of supramolecular structures due to their structural and functional diversity, and their natural propensity to form defined, 3D architectures.

Further details: New artificial system mimics nature's catalysts