Proteins: Paradigms of complexity

Proteins are the working machines of living systems. Directed by the DNA, of the order of a few hundred building blocks, selected from 20 different amino acids, are covalently linked into a linear polypeptide chain. In the proper environment, the chain folds into the working protein, often a globule of linear dimensions of a few nanometers. The biologist considers proteins units from which living systems are built. Many physical scientists look at them as systems in which the laws of complexity can be studied better than anywhere else. Some of the results of such studies will be sketched.