The study of proteins is typically limited to notions, sometimes with the aid of virtual 3D models, obtained from visualization programs. A knowledge of this type, although useful, limits the ability to acquire a more direct knowledge, almost never leads to awareness of dimensions, and is particularly difficult for those who do not have a strong capacity for three-dimensional imagination.
To solve these difficulties, we propose the use of protein models made with soft material, to be explored individually, and to be assembled into multi-protein complexes by means of carefully embedded magnets.
The cases studied are: actin monomers, which can be assembled to form the filament, demonstrating the interactions between monomers and the properties of the filament; hemoglobin, made of 4 subunits (2 alpha and 2 beta); and the nucleosome complex: the proteins compose the histone octamer, around which the double strand of DNA (obtained with a simple tube) is wrapped, demonstrating the properties of the double helix, its winding and topological phenomena.
The models are produced on the basis of rigorous scientific information, following the method described in Alderighi et al., In soft rubber, a material that makes it possible to obtain joints that are impossible with rigid models, and which conveys the idea of flexibility that actually characterizes living material, even at the nanometer scale.
In the teaching of biology, in high schools and university courses, proteins are among the main subjects. However, they are not easy to understand, as they are invisible objects, whose characteristics are mainly described in a theoretical and / or schematic way.
The availability of tangible models, in flexible material, based on scientific data and easily manipulated, allows an understanding at a perceptual and experiential level impossible to reach in other ways.
So far the few attempts of physical modeling have been done using 3D printing in rigid plastic material, which fails to reflect many properties of biological molecules.
The possibility of producing the models in rubber has been demonstrated as a 'proof of principle' (see Alderighi et al, 2021. Computational design, fabrication and evaluation of rubber protein models), has proved feasible and has aroused interest with both teachers and students.
On a large scale, this possibility is currently unexplored.
The competitive advantage results from the fact of being the first (and only) to develop the idea, which has already been successfully tested on a small sample.