← The Shape of Life · Lesson 2 of 4
How a chain folds
In water, the oily building blocks of a chain end up packed together on the inside, away from the water. This alone pulls the chain into a compact shape.
Along the way, parts of the chain settle into common local shapes: spirals called helices, and flat strands that lie side by side as sheets.
Proteins do not decide to fold. The pushes and pulls of water and of the chain itself settle it, usually in a fraction of a second.
What mainly pulls oily building blocks to the inside of a folded protein?
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