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 "promiscuous" ancestors to allow cells to grow more efficiently. This fundamental paradigm is being challenged in a new study by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego, who reported in the journal Science what a few enzymologists have suspected for years: many enzymes are still pretty sloppy and promiscuous, catalyzing multiple chemical reactions in living cells, for reasons that were previously not well understood.
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Researchers examined the differences between two species of mice -- one monogamous and one promiscuous -- on a microscopic and molecular level. They discovered that the lifestyles of the two mice had a direct impact on the bacterial communities that reside within the female reproductive tract. These differences correlate with enhanced diversifying selection on genes related to immunity against bacterial diseases.
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Up to four percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: A bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.
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Soil bacteria and bacteria that cause human diseases have recently swapped at least seven antibiotic-resistance genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report Aug. 31 in Science.
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The tangy taste a mustard plant develops to discourage insect predators can be the difference between life and death for the plants. A new study has used this trait and its regional variations to conquer the difficult task of measuring the evolution of complex traits in a natural environment.
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Scientists have used sophisticated technologies to identify and describe the protein interactions that distinguish each member of the WTX family. They found that unlike WTX and FAM123C, FAM123A interacts with a specific set of proteins that regulates cell adhesion and migration, processes essential to normal cell functioning and which, when mutated, contribute to human diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's.
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In the creeping plant's tendrils, researchers discover a biological mechanism for coiling and stumble upon an unusual type of spring.
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A new statistical review calls into question studies that have been taken as proof that antibiotic retreatment for chronic Lyme disease is futile. That misunderstanding has led to medical guidance that discourages retreatment and insurance coverage for it. Instead, the authors of the review suggest, the proper reading of the studies and their data is that they prove nothing.
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Pregnant women who are highly exposed to common environmental chemicals -- polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) -- have babies that are smaller at birth and larger at 20 months of age, according to a new study. PFCs are used in the production of fluoropolymers and are found widely in protective coatings of packaging products, clothes, furniture and non-stick cookware. They are persistent compounds found abundantly in the environment and human exposure is common. PFCs have been detected in human sera, breast milk and cord blood.
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A new psychology study finds adults are more likely than children to find supernatural explanations for existential questions.
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Researchers have devised a method for detecting certain neurological disorders through the study of eye movements.
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS, is a devastating, rapidly advancing disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. But researchers have identified a new target for slowing the deterioration of physical function for which the disease is so well known.
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