http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090323154349.htm
Biochemists from the University of Pennsylvania have used design and engineering principles in order to build a protein from scratch. This protein was built to transport oxygen to the brain and the peripheral nervous system. No one has ever created a protein with its main function being to carry oxygen. To build this protein , these biochemists had to start with three amino acids to get the design in the protein that they wanted. Since heme and oxygen degrade in water, the scientists had to design exteriors of the helix that would repel water. Then, the team had to use chemical tests to prove that their protein did actually capture oxygen, and when it did bind to the iron heme molecule, the reaction took place and there was a color change from dark red to scarlet, almost identical to natural neuroglobin. Dutton, part of the team says, "Using the bound oxygen to do chemistry will be like adding the wheels. Our approach to building a simple protein from scratch allows us to add on, without getting more and more complicated.”
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9 comments:
In your review, i liked the way you described the unique use for this particular protein. Also you described the way that the proteins were formed and the importance of them very well. I think you could have explained how this protein will help human kind more, as well as scientists. Also, you could have explained how long it take to form this protein. This is interesting to read about because our scientists are accomplishing so much.
1- interesting topic
2- good length summary
3- easy to follow/understand
1- could explain what hemes are
2- what is the peripheral nervous system?
1- learned that protein can be made from scratch
3 Easy to understand
2 No unnecessary words.
1 Nice and short
2 Could have a little more detail.
1 Explain how this protein could have more use.
1 Didn't know scientists can scientifically create protein.
1. Well written
2. Easy to read
3. Very interesting
1. Could have broken up into paragraphs
2. Could have talked about some background
1. I learned that biochemists are building proteins from scratch
3 Things Done Well:
1. The summary concisely summarized an advanced topic using approachable terms.
2. The summary included a quote, an analogy which was very helpful to understanding the subject matter.
3. The topic of the article was cutting-edge.
2 Things Needing Improvment:
1. The importance of the discovery was not completely explained - it might be helpful to give a few possible applications.
2. The summary left a few uncommon terms unexplained - it might have been helpful to the understanding of the article if the reader knew what neuroglobin is.
1 Thing Learned:
1. I did not know that the sophistication of chemistry had advanced to a point where it would be possible to synthetically generate protiens.
1. everything was straight to the point and easy to understand
2. the topic was an interesting one to read about
3. the information brought from the article helped me understand it
1. more information about the protein could have been provided
2. background information could have been mentioned
1. i didnt know that proteins were made from scratch
3. Very interesting subject
2. Well explained and easy to understand
1. Full of cool information
2. Could have explained the purpose of making these proteins
1 could have gone into more detail about the oxygen part
1. I learned that scientists have the ability to make oxygen carrying proteins
3 things well-presented:
- interesting fact
- well written
- easy to understand
2 suggestions:
- you could explain what heme means
- you could explain what neuroglobin is
1 thing learned:
- Scientist are able to develop important proteins for the human body
1. Interesting topic
2. short and to the piont
3. Well writen
1. Could have explian what hemes are
2. Could have given a better backround
1. This artical showed me that biochemistes are building proteins from scratch.
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