Consider the following statement. “To produce one molecule of each possible kind of polypeptide chain, 300 amino acids in length, would require more atoms than exist in the universe.” Given the size of the universe, do you suppose this statement could possibly be correct? Since counting atoms is a tricky business, consider the problem from the standpoint of mass. The mass of the observable universe is estimated to be about 1080 grams, give or take an order of magnitude or so. Assuming that the average mass of an amino acid is 110 daltons, what would be the mass of one molecule of each possible kind of polypeptide chain 300 amino acids in length? Is this greater than the mass of the universe?