Synthesis of potent antibiotic follows unusual chemical pathway — ScienceDaily
Images of a protein involved in creating a potent antibiotic reveal the unusual first steps of the antibiotic’s synthesis. The improved understanding of the chemistry behind this process, detailed in a new study led by Penn State chemists, could allow researchers to adapt this and similar compounds for use in human medicine. “The antibiotic thiostrepton […]
Synthesis of potent antibiotic follows unusual chemical pathway
The synthesis of the potent antibiotic thiostrepton uses a radical SAM protein TsrM, whose crystal structure is shown at left while bound to an iron-sulfur cluster and cobalamin. New images of this crystal structure allowed researchers from Penn State to infer the chemical steps during the antibiotic’s synthesis (right), as a methyl group moves from […]
Unusual snow kills 4, brings much of Spain to a standstill
Neighbours have drinks in the middle of the street during a heavy snowfall in Bustarviejo, outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. A persistent blizzard has blanketed large parts of Spain with 50-year record levels of snow, halting traffic and leaving thousands trapped in cars or in train stations and airports that suspended all […]
The molecules generated at the University of Bonn are very stable despite their unusual spatial shape — ScienceDaily
Chemists at the University of Bonn (Germany) have synthesized extremely unusual compounds. Their central building block is a silicon atom. Different from usual, however, is the arrangement of the four bonding partners of the atom, which are not in the form of a tetrahedron around it, but flat like a trapezoid. This arrangement is usually […]
2 people die in shark attacks. How unusual is this?
Two people were recently killed in separate shark attacks, but how common is this? The first attack occurred when a surfer, a 56-year-old Hawaiian man was paddling in Honolua Bay on Dec. 8, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. In the second attack on Dec. 10, a 38-year-old woman died after […]
Leaving so soon? Unusual planetary nebula fades mere decades after it arrived — ScienceDaily
Stars are rather patient. They can live for billions of years, and they typically make slow transitions — sometimes over many millions of years — between the different stages of their lives. So when a previously typical star’s behavior rapidly changes in a few decades, astronomers take note and get to work. Such is the […]
Predators form an unusual coexistence in the central Chilean Andes
Pumas are the top predators in the study research area in the Chilean Andes. Camera trap photo by Christian Osorio. Credit: Christian Osorio In the high plains of the central Chilean Andes, an ecosystem consisting of only a few animal species is providing researchers with new insights into how predators coexist in the wild. “The […]
