Peptide synthesis can be simply bedefined as the formation of peptide bonds between two or more amino acids. It is the process needed to form the various types of peptides available for purchase in the stores today. All vendors offering peptide synthesis services simply take the requirements of their clients and modify the needed peptides as per the demands of the clients. It thus implies that out of peptide synthesis, there can be endless variations of peptides.
The concept of peptide synthesis was discovered centuries ago when it was determined that amino acids could come together to form long chains, but the actual synthesis of peptides has been around for about six decades. It should be noted that the process of synthesizing the peptides is not an easy one, and perhaps this explains why the concept was discovered centuries ago, but it was not until recently when proper synthesis of peptides began.
One of the astonishing things about peptide synthesis, is that now men have the ability to reproduce those which are naturally occurring. This is not just good news because we now have an alternative source of naturally occurring peptides, but also because there is room for the customization of the peptides, thus widening the scope of their application to different fields, including biology and medical research.
With the availability of variations in the synthesis, applications have also increased while others are still being devised. For instance, through peptide synthesis, epitope-specific antibodies have been developed to fight the effects of pathogenic proteins in the body. Again, through the synthesis of peptides, in-depth studies of the various functions of proteins have been discovered, including their identification and characterization.
Though the field of peptide synthesis has made significant strides in past years, there is still a long way to go as more interest is gained in the field. Many applications are bound to be discovered or developed, and synthesis will continue to become increasingly sophisticated.