Here we report the discovery of a natural protein, citrate synthase from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, which self-assembles into Sierpiński triangles.
> Bless us, divine number, thou who generated gods and men! O holy, holy Tetractys, thou that containest the root and source of the eternally flowing creation! For the divine number begins with the profound, pure unity until it comes to the holy four; then it begets the mother of all, the all-comprising, all-bounding, the first-born, the never-swerving, the never-tiring holy ten, the keyholder of all.
> By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high,
nature's eternal fountain and supply,
the parent of all souls that living be,
by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee.
Slight correction to the title: the fractal is not a single molecule, but composed of many copies of a molecule which self-assemble to form a fractal. (Though the difference is very minor, and arguably irrelevant for many purposes.)
I personally find the explanation very satisfying, actually! So many fractals are a complex embodiment of a simple rule, and this idea (complexity from simplicity) permeates everything in the natural world. That this extends to proteins is a wonderful discovery.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 44.4 ms ] threadHere we report the discovery of a natural protein, citrate synthase from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, which self-assembles into Sierpiński triangles.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07287-2/figures/1
> Bless us, divine number, thou who generated gods and men! O holy, holy Tetractys, thou that containest the root and source of the eternally flowing creation! For the divine number begins with the profound, pure unity until it comes to the holy four; then it begets the mother of all, the all-comprising, all-bounding, the first-born, the never-swerving, the never-tiring holy ten, the keyholder of all.
> By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high, nature's eternal fountain and supply, the parent of all souls that living be, by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee.