A common mineral, α-alumina, found abundantly in Earth's crust, may have played a critical role in initiating the chemical ...

In addition, chemical forces between a protein ... family also often have long stretches of similar amino acid sequences within their primary structure. These stretches have been conserved through ...

Amino acids are the building blocks that form polypeptides and ultimately proteins. Consequently, they are fundamental components of our bodies and vital for physiological functions such as protein ...

with the release of a water molecule. This process, known as condensation or dehydration synthesis, results in the formation of a linear chain of amino acids. The sequence of amino acids in a protein, ...

Enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases attach the correct amino acid to each tRNA, based on the three-dimensional structure of the tRNA molecule. Other classes of RNA species include microRNAs ...

The sequence of amino acids in the chain determines how the ... form attachments and interact with many other molecules and structures inside organisms. The shape of a protein determines what ...