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The condition “xeroderma pigmentosum” is characterized by high rates of skin cancers like malignant melanoma. It is caused by mutations in any of several genes that encode enzymes that participate in:     scanning DNA for aberrant structures such as bulges resulting from thymine dimers.     strand-invasion during homologous […]

Most biological energy here on Earth can be traced back to one single source: the sun. Plants and blue-green algae use photosynthesis to trap the electromagnetic wave energy generated by the sun, transforming it into chemical energy in the form of food for themselves and for other creatures that eat […]

While studying the Michaelis – Menton kinetics of enzymes in the TCA cycle, the synthetic hydrocarbon malonate was shown to act as a competitive inhibitor of one of the enzymes. At first, the identity of the inhibited enzyme was unknown but further tests revealed that this inhibited TCA enzyme was […]

In some plants, a red pigment, cyanidin, is synthesized from a colorless precursor. The addition of a hydroxyl group (-OH) to the canidin molecule causes it to become purple. In a cross between two randomly selected purple plants, the following results are obtained: 94 purple: 31 red: 43 colorless. How […]