How water guides the assembly of collagen, the building block of all humans

Water determines life: humans are three-quarters water. An international research team has now discovered how water also determines the structure of the material that holds us together: collagen. The researchers now elucidate the role of water in the molecular self-assembly of collagen. They show that by replacing water with its 'twin molecule' heavy water (D2O), one can 'tune' the interaction between collagen molecules, and thus influence the process of collagen self-assembly. The findings will help to better understand the tissue failures resulting from heritable collagen-related diseases, such as brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta).