A new experiment designed to detect amino acids on Mars, in spite of the reactive perchlorate in the Martian soil that typically breaks organic compounds down, could fly on a future mission to Mars to help in the search for ...
Space Exploration
May 4, 2018
2
227
A large team of researchers at the University of Washington, working with colleagues from Université Montpellier and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has taken a major step toward the creation of an axle-rotor ...
Life on Earth arose about 4 billion years ago when the first cells formed within a primordial soup of complex, carbon-rich chemical compounds.
Biochemistry
Aug 12, 2019
34
1084
Nearly every fundamental biological process necessary for life is carried out by proteins. They create and maintain the shapes of cells and tissues; constitute the enzymes that catalyze life-sustaining chemical reactions; ...
Biochemistry
Apr 17, 2019
1
546
A new study at the University of Chicago has shown that elaborate protein structures accumulate over deep time even when they serve no purpose, because a universal biochemical property and the genetic code force natural selection ...
Evolution
Dec 9, 2020
3
4715
Peptides, one of the fundamental building blocks of life, can be formed from the primitive precursors of amino acids under conditions similar to those expected on the primordial Earth, finds a new UCL study.
Biochemistry
Jul 10, 2019
16
2392
The simple things in life sometimes bring the greatest joy—like feeding the ducks at your local pond. The next time you pay your feathered friends a visit, consider introducing some variety into the food you give them. ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 6, 2021
1
19
Researchers at the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (Leibniz-LSB@TUM) have confirmed the presence of the rare amino acid ethionine in a plant—or more precisely, in the fruit ...
Other
Feb 28, 2020
0
48
An international and interdisciplinary team working at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has modeled the evolution of one of biology's most fundamental sets of building blocks and ...
Evolution
Sep 10, 2019
1
930
A team of researchers from Germany and the Netherlands has determined the structure of an amyloid fibril with previously unachieved resolution. The fibrils of the body's own amyloid beta (Aβ) protein are the main constituent ...
Biochemistry
Sep 8, 2017
0
744
