A database of enzyme diversity

Scientists have a constructed a new database of the diversity in an enzyme that is used by microorganisms to metabolize sulfur.

Discovery of the missing link in evolution of bioluminescence

With bioluminescence—the process that makes fireflies glow—now a mainstay in medical research, scientists are reporting discovery of a "missing link" of its evolution, which represents one of the deepest mysteries about ...

Plants cut the mustard for basic discoveries in metabolism

You might think you have nothing in common with mustard except hotdogs. Yet based on research in a plant from the mustard family, Salk scientists have discovered a possible explanation for how organisms, including humans, ...

'Promiscuous' enzymes still prevalent in metabolism

Open an undergraduate biochemistry textbook and you will learn that enzymes are highly efficient and specific in catalyzing chemical reactions in living organisms, and that they evolved to this state from their "sloppy" and ...

Genes may travel from plant to plant to fuel evolution: study

The evolution of plants and animals generally has been thought to occur through the passing of genes from parent to offspring and genetic modifications that happen along the way. But evolutionary biologists from Brown University ...

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