Investigating a simple model of protein folding for evidence of self-organized criticality

Protein folding is a complex, multi-faceted process with many drivers. Systems of this type are ubiquitous in nature and many behave as self-organizing critical (SOC) systems. Does protein folding exhibit self-organizing critical behavior? To answer this question, we developed a simple model of the folding process and searched for evidence of self-organized critical behavior. Furthermore, we investigated whether or not the parameters defining self-organization can shed light on the protein folding process.