A parabolic relationship between lens radius and refractive index allows spherical lenses to escape spherical aberration. We show that in squid, evolution generated this design with a set of globular proteins that act as patchy colloids. SAXS experiments on lens tissue show colloidal gels of globular S-crystallin proteins at all radial positions. Sparse lens materials form via low-valence linkages between disordered loops protruding from the surface. The arms are polydisperse and bind via a set of hydrogen bonds between disordered side chains. Peripheral lens regions with low particle valence form stable, volume-spanning gels at low density, while central regions with higher average valence gel at higher densities. The proteins demonstrate an evolved set of linkers for self-assembly of nanoparticles into volumetric materials.</p><p>This dataset contains the raw Illumina sequencing reads of squid lens transcriptome underlying this study of squid lens self-assembly from globular S-crystallni proteins.