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COSTS OF PROTEIN CHANGE. "Adding more protein–protein interactions to a system may become increasingly difficult as more of the remaining surface area is taken up by other binding interactions." https://lnkd.in/eX5AfaH View in LinkedIn

“EVERY CHEMICAL ELEMENT on Earth tells a story written in the heavens. The nitrogen in our atmosphere and in your body's proteins blossomed in stars somewhat heavier than the Sun, such as Capella, which cast their outer layers away as planetary nebulae when they died. The oxygen you breathe and the neon gas in storefront lights were cooked up in massive stars like Antares, which later spewed these elements into the Galaxy by exploding as supernovae. And supernova explosions themselves forged most of the iron in your blood and the gold in your ring.” https://lnkd.in/ePG-Rgt View in LinkedIn

NON-PROTEIN CODING SELECTION. "We found evidence that both protein-coding and noncoding DNA sequences of pathogenicity-related genes are under differential selective pressures compared with other genes." https://lnkd.in/dPT523x View in LinkedIn

DYING STARS give birth to biogenic chemicals. https://lnkd.in/e9TF4DN View in LinkedIn

SYNTHESIS OF ELEMENTS by stars, a great review, describing star shell burning with different elements residing at different shells. Starting with hydrogen burning to helium; then helium to carbon and oxygen; and so on. https://lnkd.in/eXd25n7 View in LinkedIn

ENERGY FOR THE FACTORY. “A star obtains its energy by fusing together light nuclei to form heavier nuclei; in this process, mass (m) is converted into energy (E) in accordance with Einstein's formula, E=mc2, in which c is the speed of light. The reactions are initiated by the high temperatures (about 14 million degrees Celsius) at the center of the star. In the course of producing nuclear energy, the star synthesizes all the elements of the periodic table from its initial composition of mostly hydrogen and a small amount of helium.” https://lnkd.in/ehA7mjb View in LinkedIn

HYDROGEN AND HELIUM LINEAGE. “Supernova nucleosynthesis is a theory of the production of many different chemical elements in supernova explosions. The nucleosynthesis, or fusion of lighter elements into heavier ones, occurs during explosive oxygen burning and silicon burning processes. Those fusion reactions create the elements silicon, sulfur, chlorine, argon, sodium, potassium, calcium, scandium, titanium and iron peak elements: vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, and nickel. These are called "primary elements", in that they can be fused from pure hydrogen and helium in massive stars.” https://lnkd.in/eFGMPQy View in LinkedIn

BIRTH OF ELEMENTS. “Stellar nucleosynthesis is the process by which the natural abundances of the chemical elements within stars change due to nuclear fusion reactions in the cores. A star loses most of its mass when it is ejected late in the star's lifetime, thereby increasing the abundance of elements heavier than helium in the interstellar medium. The term supernova nucleosynthesis is used to describe the creation of elements during the evolution and explosion of a pre-supernova star, a concept put forth by Fred Hoyle in 1954.” https://lnkd.in/eEjZ4jp View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the synthesis of the biogenic and other chemical elements. At the heart of the matter of the universe that we can see and touch (about 5%) are protons. Add protons and you get different elements. Dying stars are proton adding factories, churning out elements, the bits that make you and me. View in LinkedIn

ASYMMETRICAL ARMS RACE. "We apply this theory to explain a longstanding paradox in biology and medicine: the evolution of excessive defences against enemies. These so-called extraordinary defences can evolve in response to asymmetrical selection when marginal risks of insufficient defence exceed marginal costs of excessive defence." https://lnkd.in/e5R5vQe View in LinkedIn