Scripps Research Unveils Solution to Biological Homochirality Mystery
Recent studies by Scripps Research chemists propose a general theory for the emergence of homochirality, a fundamental aspect of molecular biology, through kinetic resolution.
- Scripps Research chemists have proposed a solution to the long-standing mystery of why biological molecules exhibit homochirality, or single-handedness.
- The emergence of homochirality in biology is attributed to a phenomenon known as kinetic resolution, where one chiral form becomes dominant due to faster production or slower depletion.
- The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature, offers a plausible prebiotic theory for the emergence of homochirality.
- Experiments demonstrated that specific prebiotic conditions could favor the production of left-handed amino acids, aligning with the chiral forms used in living cells.
- These findings provide a broad explanation for the emergence of homochirality, potentially applicable to other fundamental biological molecules like DNA and RNA.
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