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Chemists create ‘assembly-line’ for organic molecules

Posted in biotech/medical

(Phys.org) —Scientists at the University of Bristol have developed a process where reagents are added to a growing carbon chain with extraordinary high fidelity and precise orientation, thereby controlling the conformation of the molecule so that it adopts a helical or linear shape. The process can be likened to a molecular assembly line.

Nature has evolved highly sophisticated machinery for . One of the most beautiful examples is its machinery for the synthesis of polyketides, a very important class of molecules due to their broad spectrum of biological activities (for example antibiotic, antitumor, antifungal, antiparasitic).

In this process, a simple thioester (small building block) is passed from one enzyme domain to another, growing as it does so until the is formed. The process resembles a molecular assembly line.

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