Protein Entropy

[mattottam]

Hello, I was thinking about the self assembly proteins and I can't figure how this process follow the second law of thermodynamics. With the knowledge I have, this proteins form their tertiary structure without involving any enzymes or molecules, they simply form hydrogen bonds or Van der Waals interactions. It looks like a local situation of order without a consequential universe disorder. Obviously I miss something, thanks for the answers

Edited December 28, 2013 by mattottam

[timo]

I don't have the background to understand the scenario you describe (or even judge if you actually properly describe a defined scenario with the very few words). But my advice would be:

- "Entropy must never decrease" tends to be overrated a bit (due to it being rated to increadibly important, usually). Strictly speaking that applies to systems with constant energy, and also implies some mathematical subtleties (which you should probably not bother with).

- Hence: The scenario you have in mind: Are you sure that energy is conserved? Or does the new structure perhaps have a lower energy than the old one (the notion of "forming bonds" hints at that)? In that case, the energy must go somewhere, e.g. as heat into the surrounding water. That's also where the increase in entropy could happen. That exact mechanism is a random guess of mine, of course. Point is: Is energy conserved in your picture?