Author Archives: Jessica P. Johnson

Journal Club: Engineered enzyme could streamline synthesis of nitrogen containing compounds

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Researchers have re-engineered a bacterial enzyme to transform abundant alkanes into industrially important nitrogen-containing compounds that can be used to synthesize pharmaceuticals. In principle, the enzyme, now called P411CHA, could help streamline some methods for creating synthetic molecules, which often … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Analysis of bony fishes suggests convergent evolution is more prevalent than previously thought

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Habitats and environmental pressures shape a variety of animal morphologies and behaviors over vast evolutionary time scales. These environmental pressures can sometimes produce nearly identical traits, even in completely unrelated lineages. This phenomenon, called convergent evolution, results in modern species that appear very similar despite … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Shark blood compound offers up novel mechanism for stabilizing folded proteins

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Sharks and other sea life often maintain high levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in their blood, a compound vital to their surviving in the saline environment. TMAO helps maintain an osmotic balance between body tissues and sea water to prevent … Continue reading →

Categories: Biochemistry | Chemistry | Journal Club | Tagged blood, elastin-like polypeptide, model, osmolyte, protein folding, sharks, simulation, trimethylamine N-oxide | Leave a comment

Journal Club: Phosphorylation has surprisingly big role in control of circadian clocks

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

The network of molecules that makes up the circadian clock, which governs the timing of cellular processes in most living things, has been well studied. But thus far, technological limitations have prevented researchers from elucidating exactly how the clocks orchestrate … Continue reading →