Chapter 140 Right-Handed World

Because the biosphere with the majority of right-handed enzymes, its most basic biological molecules will also be right-handed.

Just like amino acids, it is well known that in organisms, the biological activities of left-handed amino acids and right-handed amino acids are different. In the body of Earth's organisms, only left-handed amino acids are usually present, while right-handed amino acids rarely appear. This is because enzymes and other enzymes in Earth's organisms can only recognize and catalyze left-handed amino acids, but not right-handed amino acids.

In other words, if a person consumes too much right-handed amino acids, they will not be absorbed by the body, causing health problems.

It is said that right-handed amino acids rarely appear in Earth's organisms, but it does not mean that there are no right-handed amino acids. For example, the human body actually has right-handed amino acids.

The left-handed and right-handed amino acids also have different physiological functions. Left-handed amino acids are the basic units that make up proteins, and have many physiological functions such as promoting growth, maintaining tissue structure and metabolism.

And right-handed amino acids play different roles in the body's metabolic process, and are usually used as drugs or nutritional supplements.

In other words, these two pieces of news, which are considered bad news, have different impacts on different aspects of human society.

In terms of science, there is no doubt that it is a positive impact.

The reason is that the biosphere of the earth where humans live is mainly left-handed, and the chemical properties of right-handed amino acids are significantly different from those of left-handed amino acids. In theory, right-handed amino acids can also form a biosphere, but it will never be like the biosphere of the earth.

In the past, humans also imagined what a left-handed biosphere would be like, but they had never seen it. Now they have seen that the biosphere of this planet dominated by right-handed enzymes is so vibrant and so magical.

Of course, the most basic life molecule that constitutes this planet is not right-handed amino acids, but another right-handed macromolecular structure. This scientist has confirmed.

However, the research significance is still very significant, even greater than that of the left-handed biosphere.

In other aspects, the impact is not so friendly.

Before, people thought that when they encountered such a planet with life, after the research on it was fruitful and humans adapted to this biosphere, there would be a lot of meat on the table of the human cafeteria.

There are so many plants on the planet, there must be suitable plants that can be used as seasonings. Those mouths that have been drooling over many birds can finally be satisfied.

But I didn’t expect it to be a left-handed DNA biosphere and a right-handed enzyme world.

The left-handed biosphere here refers to the biosphere composed of organisms with left-handed DNA structure. Such a biosphere is called the right-handed world because it uses right-handed enzymes. The DNA of the earth's organisms is right-handed, so it is called the right-handed biosphere. The right-handed biosphere uses almost all left-handed enzymes, so it is called the left-handed world.

Left-handed is not left-handed, and right-handed is not right-handed, but refers to the left and right hand of chirality.

In this way, people's dream of gourmet food was shattered.

Right-handed things cannot be eaten randomly, it will kill people, unless humans have the technology to transform themselves from DNA into organisms that can use right-handed food.

Think about the famous "Thalidomide Incident" to know how serious the consequences of eating right-handed things are.

In 1957, the German Grunenso Pharmaceutical Factory developed a drug called thalidomide, also known as thalidomide. Scientists at the time found that it could control mental tension during pregnancy in women and significantly inhibit pregnancy reactions in pregnant women. Once pregnant women take this drug, pregnancy reactions such as nausea and vomiting will disappear immediately, and it has a sleeping effect, which can be called a miracle drug. Therefore, this drug is also called "Thalidomide".

However, just three years later, many deformed babies with abnormal hands and feet appeared all over West Germany. After that, Dr. Lenz investigated this kind of deformed fetus and published an article in 1961 titled "The cause of deformity is thalidomide".

Studies have shown that mothers who take thalidomide during pregnancy for one or two months will give birth to deformed babies. These deformed babies have shorter hands and feet than normal people, and some even have no hands and feet at all, like seals.

Its mechanism is to act on genes. This drug hinders the transmission of life gene codes in expressing instructions such as the length of hands and feet, five fingers, etc.

As of 1963, there were 12,000 deformed babies born due to taking this drug in countries around the world, such as West Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, etc.

Scientists have discovered that the ultimate cause of this disaster is actually the chiral carbon structure of thalidomide. The right-handed isomorph can reduce morning sickness. The left-handed isomorph not only has no medicinal activity, but also causes fetal deformities during development.

The chemical formula of this substance is exactly the same, except that it has a left-handed isomorph structure and a right-handed isomorph structure. Because people at that time were ignorant of this optical isomer, the drugs contained both left-handed and right-handed components, which led to this tragedy.

So, we must distinguish between left-handed and right-handed things. Humans cannot easily eat such a large biosphere.

Of course, there must be some answers to the universe and some truths of life hidden in it.

As long as humans can thoroughly study this left-handed biosphere dominated by right-handed enzymes, they will inevitably make further progress in the field of life sciences.

Perhaps, the strengthening drug that humans have been searching for is hidden in the truth of left-handed and right-handed rotation.

So, this is a discovery that makes scientists happy but foodies unhappy.

"Is there any explanation for the formation of the left-handed biosphere?" Yue Yuan's face was filled with joy. He was also a foodie, but he was more concerned about the scientific progress of mankind.

After he asked the question, he turned to look at Yi Kai, who was pouring water into his mouth, and thought to himself: With such a magical biosphere, wouldn't it be possible to strengthen the potion to overtake in corners and do it in front of the acceleration buffer?

Yi Kai tightened the cap of the water bottle in his hand, stuffed the water bottle into his trouser pocket, and replied: "From the perspective of biological evolution, I think the basic structure of life on this planet at the beginning should be half left-handed and right-handed. Later, as time went by, perhaps some events occurred that changed the planet's environment.

Such as various mass extinctions in the history of earth's evolution, etc. After experiencing these events, the environment of the planet suddenly became unsuitable for organisms with right-handed DNA, so organisms with left-handed DNA gained the upper hand.

Once this ecological balance is broken, it will be out of control. The greater the population of the more, the greater the probability of poisoning the less, so the less will be fewer. As time goes by, there will no longer be food for right- and left-handed DNA organisms on the planet. Since then, only left-handed DNA organisms are left. "

"Just like there are only right-handed DNA structure organisms on our earth, left-handed and right-handed should be an evolutionary probability. Because although the earth is mainly made of left-handed amino acids, there are also a small number of right-handed amino acids. Our human body has right-handed amino acids. .

I think this is probably a small coexistence relationship formed by left-handed and right-handed amino acids competing with each other during billions of years of evolution. This is also the reason why we do not die directly after eating right-handed amino acids, and sometimes even have therapeutic effects. , because those right-handed amino acids that can poison us have died out billions of years ago. "

Well, just like cyanobacteria and red algae, fungi and archaea have formed a symbiotic relationship in the long process of evolution. Hearing what Yi Kai said, the story of the evolution of ancient life on earth emerged in Yue Yuan's mind.