The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right or left handed. This chirality has a profound influence on the ...

A glass of water has more molecules than there are stars in the night sky. That’s what I found out from my friend Qiang “Jack” Zhang, an assistant professor of chemistry at Washington State University ...

The basic molecules of life are scattered through the universe, collecting in faraway galactic clouds, on passing comets and asteroids, and on the planets here in our solar system. But scientists ...

University researchers recently acquired molecule products from bacteria through activating “silent genes.” The molecules have potential use for drugs but need further research. Silent genes are genes ...

The simple molecule carbon monoxide (CO) can be used as the starting point for synthesizing a specific organic compound called anionic ketenes, according to research from Germany’s Ruhr University ...

Scientists have succeeded in identifying naphthalene, one of the most complex molecules yet discovered in the interstellar medium. The detection of this molecule suggests that a large number of the ...

In a system with self-replicating molecules -previously shown to have the capability to grow, divide and evolve - chemists from the University of Groningen have now discovered catalytic capabilities ...

For years, the prevailing theories about how life originated on Earth (and, perhaps, beyond) relied entirely on traumatic events, such as a lightning strike or a volcanic blast that created the first ...

ARGONNE, Ill. (December 1, 2008) — The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right- or left-handed. This ...