Proteins, through their unique and specific interactions with other macromolecules and inorganics, control structures and functions of all biological hard and soft tissues in organisms. Molecular biomimetics is an emerging field in which hybrid technologies are developed by using the tools of molecular biology and nanotechnology. Taking lessons from biology, polypeptides can now be genetically engineered to specifically bind to selected inorganic compounds for applications in nano- and biotechnology. This review discusses combinatorial biological protocols, that is, bacterial cell surface and phage-display technologies, in the selection of short sequences that have affinity to (noble) metals, semiconducting oxides and other technological compounds. These genetically engineered proteins for inorganics (GEPIs) can be used in the assembly of functional nanostructures. Based on the three fundamental principles of molecular recognition, self-assembly and DNA manipulation, we highlight successful uses of GEPI in nanotechnology.

The past 20 years have seen enormous progress in the understanding of the mechanisms used by the enteric bacterium Escherichia coli to promote protein folding, support protein translocation and handle protein misfolding. Insights from these studies have been exploited to tackle the problems of inclusion body formation, proteolytic degradation and disulfide bond generation that have long impeded the production of complex heterologous proteins in a properly folded and biologically active form. The application of this information to industrial processes, together with emerging strategies for creating designer folding modulators and performing glycosylation all but guarantee that E. coli will remain an important host for the production of both commodity and high value added proteins.

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