Last week's molecule was L-dopa. The winner was Raul A. Félix de Sousa (again, but this time only by four minutes!) [Monday's Molecule #190].
This week's molecule is much more complicated and it's also much more important. You need to identify this complex making sure you distinguish it from other similar complexes. You don't need to name the exact species but you should have some idea of which organisms have this complex and which ones don't. There's not enough room in the comments for the complete IUPAC name!
You'll get special bonus points (and the expensive lunch in the dining room instead of the pub) for explaining how an irreducibly complex structure like this could have evolved.
Post your answer as a comment. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post mostly correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.
There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)
Read more »
Blog Archive
Popular Posts
-
Biology concepts – hydrogenosome, FeS cluster protein, loricifera, erythrocyte More than one way to skin a cat seems to be a newer versi...
-
My next door neighbor used to be the chair of the Immunology Department but Immunology recently moved to another floor of this building. The...
-
Lab Times is a magazine that reports on news for life scientists in Europe. Their current issue (Sept. 14, 2011) has an "analysis...
-
As someone interested in linguistic recursion, I gotta join in... the below blog post has been getting a fair amount of attention around the...
-
Kevin O'Leary is one of those people who think that the world revolves around entrepreneurs and making money. He's well known in ...
-
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905 "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis" Robert Koch ...
-
Halloween is a time when fear is invited. The rush of adrenaline in a controlled environment is life- affirming. Not much else to comment on...
-
Biology concepts – gravitropism, plastid, chloroplast, chromoplast, amyloplast, leucoplast, malaria parasite Believe it or not, the way plan...
-
Biology concepts – compartmentalization , organelle function , cellular biochemistry This chart represents a portion of the cellular reactio...
-
Biology concepts – pollination , single pollinator , co-evolution , co-divergence What’s bugging her, it’s supposed to be a party! Imagine t...