Crystals, proteins, stability and isoperimetry

Abstract

We attempt to formulate several mathematical problems suggested by structural patterns present in biomolecular assemblies. Our description of these patterns, by necessity brief and over-concentrated in some places, is self-contained, albeit on a superficial level. An attentive reader is likely to stumble upon a cryptic line here and there; however, things will become more transparent at a second reading and/or at a later point in the article. © 2010 American Mathematical Society.