Re: News: Life secret exposed - Scientists unlock mystery of

On Feb 20, 11:18=A0am, "Robert Karl Stonjek" <rston...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Life secret exposed: Scientists unlock mystery of molecular machine
February 19th, 2009 in General Science / Chemistry

A major mystery about the origins of life has been resolved. According to=
a
study published in the journal Nature, two Universit=E9 de Montr=E9al sci=
entists
have proposed a new theory for how a universal molecular machine, the
ribosome, managed to self-assemble as a critical step in the genesis of a=
ll
life on Earth.

"While the ribosome is a complex structure it features a clear hierarchy
that emerged based on basic chemical principles," says Sergey Steinberg, =
a
Universit=E9 de Montr=E9al biochemistry professor who made his discovery =
with
student Konstantin Bokov. "In the absence of such explanations, some peop=
le
could imagine unseen forces at work when such complex structures emerge i=
n
nature."

What is a ribosome?

The ribosome is an enormous molecule responsible for translating the
messages carried in the genetic code of all organisms into the workhorse
molecules of the cell - proteins - that carry out all functions, includin=
g
replicating the genome itself. As the world celebrates the bicentennial
anniversary of the Father of Evolution, Charles Darwin, Prof. Steinberg's
theory brings the scientific community even deeper into the study of the
origins of life.

By examining the molecular self-organizing processes that preceded the
living cell, the point where time begins for biologists, Prof. Steinberg
goes further than Darwin and the many evolutionary biologists who followe=
d
could have imagined

By the standards of biological molecules, ribosomes are immense. Though
visible only through lenses of the most powerful microscopes, comparing m=
ost
other biological molecules to this behemoth is like comparing a tricycle =
to
a jumbo jet. Having spent years gazing at the detailed structure of the
ribosome, Prof. Steinberg pondered how such an immense and complex struct=
ure
could have assembled itself from smaller building blocks that existed on =
the
early Earth.

From the simple to the complex

The key breakthrough came when he realized that the ribosome is organized=
by
a set of simple structural rules and that it had to be assembled from bas=
ic
building blocks in a very specific order; otherwise it would have fallen
apart. He then showed with mathematical rigor that the construction of th=
e
ribosome likely followed an ordered series of steps to form the structure
found in the first living cell. To this day, that structure exists almost
unchanged in our own cells.

Chemists have been able to observe many examples of self-organizing behav=
ior
with simple molecules, yet explaining the complex self-assembly of
biomolecules had not been so obvious.

"Thanks to the research of Sergey Steinberg and Konstantin Bokov, scienti=
sts
now have a glimpse of one key event that emerged spontaneously out of the
primordial chemical soup of the early Earth," explains Stephen Michnick, =
a
Universit=E9 de Montr=E9al biochemistry professor and Canada Research Cha=
ir in
Integrative Genomics. "Perhaps in the near future we may look forward to
more discoveries that will take us beyond the world of Darwin into an
understanding of the basic chemical principles that drove the emergence o=
f
life on our planet and perhaps beyond."

Source: University of Montrealhttp://www.physorg.com/news154265940.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

As a retired professor of science, I was a teacher more than a
researcher, I appreciate this post because it keeps me informed as to
what is going on. thanks! Keep it flowing.
John Hubbard

.

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