Tag Archives: enzyme

Pyrophosphite: The possible energy source of early life

News: Origin of Life    May 28, 2010
A study by Dr. Terry Kee and associates at the University of Leeds (U.K.) and published in the journal Chemical Communications framed their research question this way: Scientists argue about the origin of life in many different ways, especially about which came first – replication or metabolism. Did the early forms of life, simple cells [...]
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New study: Steps toward understanding the ferritin ‘nanocage’

News: Proteomics    May 19, 2010
Proteins are the building blocks of cells, tissues, and the larger creations of life (such as humans), which makes them important. That doesn’t make them easy to understand. In fact, studies such as one about the protein ferritin, just released by researchers at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, tend to [...]
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New steps toward cellulosic ethanol

News: Alternative Energy    March 26, 2010
Scientists keep banging away at it – converting wood or woody fibers to ethanol (cellulosic ethanol) or other useful fuel. It’s difficult, plant materials that contain sugars are easy (for example, fermentation for alcohol) but woody fibers (cellulose) don’t have much of that kind of organic material. By nature, wood is tough stuff and doesn’t [...]
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Protein pathway competition regulates embryo development

Impact: Cell Biology    March 10, 2010
One thing I’ve noticed in following scientific developments for a long time is that when something unexpected is discovered it very often adds to the complexity. Here’s a recent case in point, first, I’ll let a piece of the announcement speak for itself, and then I’ll explain the context: Until now, scientists believed these pathways [...]
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Ribozymes and the origin of life

News: Origin of Life    February 24, 2010
It could be called the search for the origin of life, but instead of a sweeping theory (primordial soup and lightning), microbiologists are concentrating on the many pieces that, one way or another, came together to constitute ‘life.’ Some new research from a team at the University of Colorado (Boulder, USA) points to the smallest [...]
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