Levinthal's paradox

proper noun

The observation that, because of the very large number of degrees of freedom in an unfolded polypeptide chain, the molecule has an astronomically large number of possible conformations, and therefore sequentially sampling all the possible conformations is not practical, yet most small proteins fold spontaneously on a millisecond or even microsecond timescale.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. The observation that, because of the very large number of degrees of freedom in an unfolded polypeptide chain, the molecule has an astronomically large number of possible conformations, and therefore sequentially sampling all the possible conformations is not practical, yet most small proteins fold spontaneously on a millisecond or even microsecond timescale.

Origin

After Cyrus Levinthal, who remarked upon it in 1969.

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Cite this entry
APA

Levinthal's paradox. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Levinthal's%20paradox

MLA

“Levinthal's paradox.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Levinthal's%20paradox. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Levinthal's paradox,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Levinthal's%20paradox.

Source: Levinthal's paradox on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.