  A phase of matter is a familiar notion for inanimate physical matter. The
nature of a phase of matter transcends the microscopic material properties. For
example, materials in the liquid phase have certain common properties
independent of the chemistry of the constituents: liquids take the shape of the
container; they flow; and they can be poured -- alcohol, oil and water as well
as a Lennard-Jones computer model exhibit similar behavior when poised in the
liquid phase. Here we identify a hitherto unstudied `phase' of matter, the
elixir phase, in a simple model of a polymeric chain whose backbone has the
correct local cylindrical symmetry induced by the tangent to the chain. The
elixir phase appears on breaking the cylindrical symmetry by adding side
spheres along the negative normal direction, as in proteins. This phase,
nestled between other phases, has multiple ground states made up of building
blocks of helices and almost planar sheets akin to protein native folds. We
discuss the similarities of this `phase' of a finite size system to the liquid
crystal and spin glass phases. Our findings are relevant for understanding
proteins; the creation of novel bio-inspired nano-machines; and also may have
implications for life elsewhere in the cosmos.
