Fig1: The Ubiquitin protein in cartoon representation used in the study (PDB: 1UBQ ).
Well this nanoscale torture rack is actually a sophisticated atomic force microscope (AFM) and the stretch is more ‘gentle’ then in the Medieval period, since it is (most of the time) reversible. The question arises; how can we describe these kind of extensions and can we, just as in basic material science, come up with an basic relationship between stress and strain?