Although engineered and modified in a laboratory setting, ELPs share structural characteristics with intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) naturally found in the body, such as tropoelastin, from which ELPs were given their name. The repeat sequences found in the biopolymer give each ELP a distinct structure, as well as influence the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), also referred to commonly as the T. It is at this temperature that the ELPs move from a linear, relatively disordered state to a more densely aggregated, partially ordered state  Although given as a single temperature, T the ELP phase change process generally begins and ends within a temperature range of approximately 2 °C. Also, T is altered by the addition of unique proteins to the free ELPs.