Tag Archives: acids

Stabilizing effect of amino acids on protein and colloidal dispersions

Stabilizing effect of amino acids on protein and colloidal dispersions

Second osmotic virial coefficient A common way to evaluate the stability of a compound in a dispersion is through the equation of state (EOS)8,9,31: $$\frac{{\Pi }}{kT}={\rho }_{2}+{B}_{22}{\rho }_{2}^{2}{+B}_{23}{\rho }_{2}{\rho }_{3}+\ldots $$ (2) where Π is the osmotic pressure, ρ is the number density and kT is the product of the Boltzmann constant (k) and the temperature (T). In this equation, …

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Scientists recreate life’s first step: Linking amino acids to RNA

Scientists recreate life’s first step: Linking amino acids to RNA

Chemists at UCL have shown how two of biology’s most fundamental ingredients, RNA (ribonucleic acid) and amino acids, could have spontaneously joined together at the origin of life four billion years ago. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, the “workhorses” of life essential to nearly every living process. But proteins cannot replicate or produce themselves — they require …

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