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POLYMERIZATION CYCLES. "Tkachenko and Maslov have proposed a new model that shows how the earliest self-replicating molecules could have worked. Their model switches between "day" phases, where individual polymers float freely, and "night" phases, where they join together to form longer chains via template-assisted ligation. The phases are driven by cyclic changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature, pH, or salinity, which throw the system out of equilibrium and induce the polymers to either come together or drift apart." https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/origins-life-new-model-may-explain-emergence-self-replication-early View in LinkedIn

UNEXPECTED RESULTS. "With the investment of sufficient resources and determination, directed evolution generally appears to yield desired improvements of protein properties, sometimes producing remarkable results." https://lnkd.in/dJawhaB View in LinkedIn

SONG OF DARWIN. "The more I study nature, the more I become impressed […] that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations [acquired through natural selection] transcend in an incomparable degree [those] which the most fertile imagination of the most imaginative man could suggest with unlimited time at his disposal." (CD). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214003881 View in LinkedIn

"SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY describes the engineering of biological parts and whole systems by either modifying natural organisms or building new biosystems from scratch. To date, most proteins used as parts in synthetic biology are taken from nature. Utilizing naturally evolved proteins has led to numerous successful applications in biotechnology." https://lnkd.in/dJawhaB View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this fragment of historical interest that continues to survive controversy, and with new methods has vindicated an old finding that used problematic procedures. That a memory trace can survive regeneration in planaria is an intriguing finding. More, that a molecule can contain such detailed information as a specific behavior. A memory encoded in a molecule that can be reawakened in a new host. Remarkable. View in LinkedIn

"DIRECTED EVOLUTION mimics natural evolution in the laboratory (in vitro), but operates on a molecular level (i.e. no new organisms are created) and focuses on specific molecular properties." https://lnkd.in/dPAZwtD View in LinkedIn

NEW PHASE OF RESEARCH OPENS. "Moreover, this memory survives long enough to allow full regeneration after amputation. Remarkably, headless fragments, regenerated from original environment-familiarized worms, display significant environmental familiarity in a savings paradigm." http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3799 View in LinkedIn

EMPIRICAL METHOD. "Most protein structures are so complex that it’s nearly impossible to predict how altering their structure will affect their function. So the trial-and-error approach of directed evolution is usually the fastest way to come up with a new protein with desirable traits." https://lnkd.in/dQTrNcQ View in LinkedIn

CREATING NOVEL MOLECULES. "The approach is called “directed evolution,” and scientists are using it to generate proteins that do not occur in nature — for example, cancer drugs, new microbial enzymes for converting agricultural waste to fuel, or imaging agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)." https://lnkd.in/dQTrNcQ View in LinkedIn

ACCELERATING EVOLUTION. "In nature, evolution takes place over eons: A slow accumulation of adaptations gradually produces new traits and species. But evolution can also happen on a small and fast scale in the laboratory." https://lnkd.in/dQTrNcQ View in LinkedIn