The yin and yang of solubilization and stabilization for wild-type and full-length membrane protein

•Study of membrane protein structure/function requires their solubilization from the membrane. What are the detergent solubilization solutions and alternatives to detergents?•Solubilization tends to be de-stabilizing for the protein. What are the methods that allow to screen for good solubilization and stabilization conditions?•Tools for stabilizing solubilized wild-type, full-length membrane proteins are discussed. How to evaluate the protein quality?•How to stabilize already solubilized membrane proteins?•Endogenous vs recombinant membrane proteins expression of is discussed.