Tuesday, December 11, 2007

New Way To Identify, Evolve Novel Enzymes

The intricate interplay of proteins and other chemicals that underlies most biological activities requires the participation of enzymes, specialized molecules that accelerate chemical reactions between molecules. The creation of totally new enzymes can help improve the synthesis of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, devise new tools for molecular biology research, and develop new therapies. If a particular protein induced the RNA substrates to join, resulting in a significantly larger molecule, that signified the protein was an active enzyme.The investigators could select out the larger RNA strands, generate more of the enzymes, and repeat the experiment. The induction of random mutations to produce different forms of the enzymes and reducing the time allowed for the splicing reaction enabled the development of more efficient versions by means of guided evolution.

What reactions does this enzyme catalyze? Chemical reaction
How is the cell affected if this enzyme is removed?
List three things you learned from this article in your own words. protein, RNA, Chemical reaction.

What impact would the absence of this molecule have on the cell?DNA.

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