Thursday, November 26, 2009

Here's some REAL science for ya.

I was going to post something about the revelation that global warming really IS a pile of steaming poo, but Kate is doing that much better than I can.  So all I'm going to say about it is: I toldya so.  Toldya toldya tollllllllldya!

Today we have a truly great discovery in biology.
The atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring-shaped protein motors has been uncovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) using a state-of-the-art protein crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). These protein motors play pivotal roles in gene expression and replication, and are vital to the survival of all biological cells, as well as infectious agents, such as the human papillomavirus, which has been linked to cervical cancer.

We have known for a very long time that things move around inside a cell under their own power.  We have known that DNA and RNA  get copied and read for instructions by little gizmos that somehow drive the RNA strand through themselves.  What's cool about this is now we know HOW they do it. The actual guts of the molecular sized motor that makes it go are laid bare. 

This is like finally getting the hood off your new Dodge Challenger and seeing the Hemi inside for the first time.  We get to watch the pistons move, see the gas squirt in, see the compression stroke and BANG watch it go round and round.

Check out the little video, its cool.

The Phantom

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