Tumours need a blood supply to grow and so it make sense to hypothesise that if the growth of blood vessels in tumors could be stopped, the tumour would effectively die.
Enter a group of antibodeis that can be used to destroy the protein (vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF) that tells the blood vessels to divide.
In the 1930′s, the New Zealand government declared to farmers that they had discovered the best ragwort killer. Ragwort, is a weed and the scourge of farmers.
Image kindly reporduced according to the licence at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illustration_Senecio_vulgaris0.jpg
There is a great article on the BBC website – it was published back in 2009 but shows some lovely images of atoms found in carbon nanotubes. You can read more and view the articles by clicking here.
Image kindly reproduced according to the licence at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kohlenstoffnanoroehre_Animation.gif
I promise you – no more after this one!!
Quadratic acid – also known as squaric acid! Has the formula C4H4O2
Miraculin is a glyco-protein (glyco-proteins are made of amino acids and carbohydrates).
Does it cause miracles though?!
Draculin
This is a real molecule! It is a protein found in the saliva of vampire bats and is an anti-coagulant that is 100 times stronger than the anti-coagulants used in medicine.
Following on from yesterdays ‘Moronic Acid’, todays stupidly named molecule is ‘Traumatic Acid’
Image kindly reproduced according to the lisence at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Traumatic_acid_structure.png
If you have just been on your half term holiday – welcome back!
I have decided to dedicate the next few blog posting to molecules with unusual names.
If anyone eats swordfish they will know how tasty it is. Its steaks are similar to tuna steaks but maybe a little more ‘meaty’. Unfortunately, swordfish has a tendency to accumulate high levels of mercury as methyl mercury. As in humans, the fish has no way of excreting the metal once it is absorbed.
Image kindly reproduced according to the licence at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xiphias_gladius1.jpg
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