Computational Fabrication of Macromolecules to Enhance Perception and Understanding of Biological Mechanisms

Abstract

We propose a fabrication technique for the fast and cheap production of 3D replicas of proteins. We leverage silicone casting with rigid molds, to produce flexible models which can be safely extracted from the mold, and easily manipulated to simulate the biological interaction mechanisms between proteins. We believe that tangible models can be useful in education as well as in laboratory settings, and that they will ease the understanding of fundamental principles of macromolecular organization.