Membrane proteins (MPs) have long been a challenge to biochemical and functional studies because they often display altered or loss of activity and function outside of a phospholipid environment. Nanodiscs, by providing a native membrane environment, have proven to be an invaluable tool for revealing the structure and function of MPs as well as their complexes with other proteins and lipids. A nanodisc is a synthetic membrane system composed of a lipid bilayer of phospholipids with the hydrophobic edge stabilized by two amphipathic helical protein belts, termed membrane scaffold proteins (MSPs). The size of nanodiscs is determined by the length of the MSPs and the stoichiometry of the lipids used in the self-assembly process. Nanodiscs are useful in the study of membrane proteins because they can solubilize and stabilize membrane proteins and represent a more native environment than liposomes, detergent micelles, bicelles and amphipols.