Universal fixer with a penchant for perversity
Article Abstract:
All forms of life contain nitrogen and nitrogenase is, as a nitrogen fixer, responsible for converting the nitrogen in the air into a form that can be used by living things. Vital compounds in living cells such as proteins, nucleic acids, hormones and vitamins all contain nitrogen. Nitrogenase is very difficult to study however as it is destroyed by air, being irretrievably inactivated within seconds of making contact with oxygen. After over 30 years of work on it, it is thought unlikely that any of it has been prepared undamaged.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1992
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Chemical warfare; antibiotics
Article Abstract:
Many antibiotics have their origins in soil moulds, there are more than one thousand substances with this property, of which 100 are in use. They work by producing a substance which prevents bacteria from multiplying, often by changing the harmful bacteria's cell structure. Some observers feel that antibiotics may have been present right at the beginning of life on Earth, and helped in its development by carrying genes.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1993
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Nice pair of wheels; electron microscopy has solved the puzzle of how bacteria move
Article Abstract:
The movement of bacteria was a mystery until the invention of the electron microscope. It can now be seen that bacteria have tails which spin like propellers, and they use them for forward and reverse motion. The bacteria are kept moving by a kind of electric charge.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1992
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