The phrase "a similar function as" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when comparing the functions or roles of two different things or concepts.
Example: "In this experiment, the enzyme serves a similar function as the catalyst, speeding up the reaction without being consumed."
Alternatives: "a comparable role to" or "an equivalent function to".
Arf6 activates phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase (PI4K) which is important for plasma membrane modulation during actin rearrangement, suggesting a similar function as has been proposed for CT694.
Local blogs in English can serve a similar function as English-language newspapers.
Some of the writings were placed in tombs for a similar function as the one mentioned above: to protect the dead.
A number of obscure jokes fulfill a similar function, as when Mortdecai complains to a bothersome policeman about a "touch of proctalgia": "He didn't ask what it meant; just as well, really".
An add-on for Mozilla Firefox, Readability (bit.ly/ffbUWQ), offers a similar function, as does the Readability Redux extension for Google Chrome (bit.ly/a1my4U).
Evolutionary biologists point out that sibling rivalry among Homo sapiens serves a similar function, as an adaptive response to limited resources.
These enzymes are generally produced as a mixture of enzymes with a similar function, such as amylolytic enzymes, upon induction by a specific inducing molecule so called as an inducer.
Sparrow and Wegner say that the Internet may serve a similar function, acting as an extension of this external memory.
In this sense again it plays a similar function in fiction as the second world war writers use the war as a setting for as many romances and thrillers as they do for literary novels.
Based on this model, we propose that PLIN2 may have a similar function for lipids as SQSTM1 for proteins.
QTL qC9-5 might be a pleiotropic locus with a similar function to FAE1 as it had an additive effect on traits C18 0 and C22 1.
