Amino Acid Essential For Humans Found In Interstellar Space

https://www.iflscience.com/amino-acid-essential-for-humans-found-in-interstellar-space-69452

#astronomy #aminoacids

All biological amino acids on Earth appear exclusively in their left-handed form, but the reason for this is elusive.

Recently, scientists uncovered new clues about the cosmic origin of this asymmetry.

That the precursors to the biological amino acids may have determined the amino acid chirality during the early phase of galactic evolution.

#astrobiology #aminoacids
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-insights-cosmic-evolution-amino-acids.html

Paper by Shoji et al. (2023):
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03862

#folding #proteins by #NeuralNetwork just for fun 'cause I can :)

Hard to believe that complete set of life's stock parts fits on screen: 22 #AminoAcids + 4 #RNA blocks. Anything else can be made of these, or by tools made of these, or by tools made by tools made by... Including you and your computer. I am staring at it in transcendental #amazement.

#3D makes #biochemistry fun. And #FreeCAD now feels easy after #PyMOL if #anaglyph glasses need a tweak :)

Tracing the origin of life

A new discovery provides insights into the origin of life

Summary:A team of scientists has discovered a new abiotic pathway for the formation of peptide chains from amino acids -- a key chemical step in the origin of life. The current study provides strong evidence that this crucial step for the emergence of life can indeed occur even in the very inhospitable conditions of space.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230210115508.htm

#lifeorigin #evolution #aminoacids #peptides

Article/study fails to mention lysine here and that the herpes virus feeds off of arginine, also, so...

"Cancer cells are starving without this protein - study"

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-730638 #aminoacids #lysine #arginine

Scientists study life origins by simulating a cosmic evolution

Amino acids make up millions of proteins that drive the chemical gears of life, including essential bodily functions in animals.... After all, amino acids may have helped spawn life on Earth after being delivered here about 4 billion years ago by pieces of asteroids or comets.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230111104321.htm

#lifeorigin #evolution #aminoacids #asteroids #comets

What are amino acids and proteins? This is where biology meets chemistry. It is critical to know the basics of this to understand health, nutrition, and medicine. I put together this graphics-rich resource to make these ideas easier to teach and learn.

https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/2022/04/25/what-are-amino-acids-and-proteins-honors/

#proteins #aminoacids #teaching #Biology #Chemistry #Health #Nutrition #STEM #NGSS
@edutooters

Interesting!

How synonymous mutations alter enzyme structure and function over long timescales

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-01091-z
#protein #aminoacids #mutations #enzymes

A guide to the 20 common amino acids. This is pure beauty

#aminoacids #chemistry #biochemistry #science #education #teaching #infographics

#Selegiline’s Wide Array of Potential Therapeutic Effects. | Selegiline is an irreversible monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitor. Monoamine #neurotransmitters such as #serotonin #dopamine and #norepinephrine are derivatives of #AminoAcids The enzyme...

https://www.scientificeuropean.co.uk/medicine/selegilines-wide-array-of-potential-therapeutic-effects/

#Molecular Origin of #life What Formed First – #protein #DNA or #RNA or a Combination Thereof? | ‘Several questions about #originoflife have been answered, but much remains to be studied’’ said Stanley Miller and Harold Urey way back in 1959 after reporting laboratory synthesis of #aminoacids in primitive earth conditions...

https://www.scientificeuropean.co.uk/sciences/biology/molecular-origin-of-life-what-formed-first-protein-dna-or-rna-or-a-combination-thereof/

Excessive Intake of #Protein for #Bodybuilding May Impact #Health and #Lifespan | Study in mice shows that excessive long-term intake of dietary protein containing high amounts of branched-chain #aminoacids (BCAAs) can result in imbalance in...

https://www.scientificeuropean.co.uk/health/excessive-intake-of-protein-for-bodybuilding-may-impact-health-and-lifespan/

via @clairemcwhite@twitter.com : We present vcMSA, a totally new algorithm for multiple #sequence #alignment (#MSA) that's based on clustering protein language representations of #aminoAcids. No gaps penalties, substitution matrices, or guide trees required. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.21.513099v1

We wanted to know what caused the extraordinarily #LongTermTrends we previously saw: in #IntrinsicStructuralDisorder and in the degree to which hydrophobic #AminoAcids are clustered, as a function of the time elapsed since a Pfam domain originated. https://elifesciences.org/articles/57347 2/11