When UC Santa Barbara materials scientist Omar Saleh and graduate student Ian Morgan sought to understand the mechanical behaviors of disordered proteins in the lab, they expected that after being stretched, one particular model protein would snap back instantaneously, like a rubber band.

Instead, this disordered protein relaxed slowly, taking tens of minutes to relax into its original shape. The  behavior that defied expectations and hinted at an inner structure the existence of which had long been theorized but was difficult to prove.

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