First proposed in 1929 by J.B.S. Haldane in his essay on the origin of life, the "soup theory" suggested that life as we know it was the result of UV radiation converting methane, ammonia and water into the first organic compounds in the early earth oceans. The first cells grew by fermenting this organic primordial soup to generate energy in the form of ATP.

Even small errors made by cells during protein production can have profound disease effects, and nature has developed ways to uncover these mistakes and correct them. Though in the case of one essential protein building block—the amino acid alanine—nature has been extra careful, developing not one, but two checkpoints in her effort to make sure that this component is used correctly.

Researchers from the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland have published evidence that suggests that eating dark chocolate can correct stress-related biochemical imbalances and actually reduce the levels of stress hormones found in the body.

A new way for scientists to interact with and understand the structure of
important biological molecules critical to human health is now available. Called
iSee, it’s now possible to interactively fly over, zoom into and dive through 3D
visualisations of these molecules in atomic detail.
 

University of Illinois researchers have designed a new system for studying bacterial locomotion. As described in the September issue of Nature Methods, physics professors Yann Chemla and Ido Golding, designed a microfluidic chamber in which the bacteria could swim, and allow the researchers to introduce stimuli - such as chemical attractants - to observe directional changes.

In a significant win for the little guy, an obscure member of an ancient group of organisms was recently discovered to be a primary mover and shaker in the processing of nitrogen worldwide. Once considered to be an insignificant player in oceanic processes, the strain known as Nitrosopumilus maritimus has demonstrated the ability to outcompete newer, larger species in the hunt for ammonia.

Scientists recently discovered that a cyanobacteria, collected off the coast of Papua New Guinea, produces a compound with a structure that has never before been seen in biomedicine.

A fundamental ingredient for life has been discovered in a comet sample, supporting the idea that such icy objects seeded early Earth with the stuff needed to whip up living organisms.

New research firms up past suggestions of glycine, the simplest amino acid used to make proteins, inside samples from the comet Wild 2 (pronounced "Vilt 2").

The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", received its first medical reference in 1811, when it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient"1. More recently, placebo use has become most common in clinical studies to determine the effectiveness of the actual medication given to other patients in the study.

Typically, when a television or computer monitor goes bad, the set is taken to the dump, where the LCD panels are incinerated or buried in the ground.