Compound Interest: biology

C&EN – Carnivorous plant chemistry preview

The chemistry of Venus flytraps – in C&EN

October 16, 2018 0Comments 0Likes 248Views

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Most plants get nutrients from the soil. But Venus flytraps prey on insects to get what they need. This month’s edition of Periodic Graphics in Chemical & Engineering News looks at how these carnivorous plants molecularly lure and trap their prey. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Harnessing evolution to produce new enzymes and antibodies

October 3, 2018 0Comments 0Likes 200Views

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The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – Revealing the structures of biomolecules with cryo-electron microscopy

October 4, 2017 2Comments 0Likes 286Views

The last of this year’s Nobel Prizes, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was awarded today. This year’s prize went to the development of cryo-electron microscopy, a technique that allows the structures of biomolecules to be revealed where other techniques fail. It also gives scientists insights into how proteins move and interact with other molecules, as well as potentially improving our understanding of how drugs act on protein targets.

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine: The molecular mechanisms behind circadian rhythms

October 2, 2017 0Comments 0Likes 283Views

The first of this year’s Nobel Prizes in Science was announced today! This year’s prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W Young for their research into the molecular mechanisms behind circadian rhythms.

The chemistry of Giant Hogweed and how it causes skin burns

August 3, 2017 5Comments 0Likes 393Views

Brushing past a plant in the undergrowth whilst out walking might sound fairly innocuous. In the case of Giant Hogweed, however, it’s anything but. This plant’s sap can cause burns and blistering after contact, and there’ve been an increasing number of articles warning of the danger it poses over the past few months. Here, we take a look at the chemical compounds behind the sap’s unpleasant effects.

The Smelly Chemistry of the Titan Arum ‘Corpse Flower’

June 27, 2017 2Comments 0Likes 293Views

Usually, you’d want to stay as far away as possible from a smell described variously as like ‘dead rat’, ‘mouldy bath mat’, or ‘cabbages and death’. However, the residents of Cambridge, UK, have been flocking to the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens over the past two days to sample this unpleasant sounding aroma for themselves. The explanation lies in the source of the smell: the rare occurrence of a Titan Arum plant flowering.