Asri-unix.1383 net.space utzoo!decvax!cca!Cabral@SUMEX-AIM@sri-unix Mon May 3 00:19:03 1982 Handed amino acids Perhaps this is well known to most space buffs, but it struck me as fascinating that even right-handed amino acids were previously known. Most chemical processes that produce handed molecules statistically produce equal amounts of the left and right handed varieties. The notable exceptions are instances where some agent biases the formation of one type over the other. Biological systems are of course quite adept at this, but they themselves are chiral (handed) and so they are propogating their own chirality. Another potential agent could be circularly polarized light, but if that was responsible I would be curious to learn of the mechanism whereby it is produced in space. I can think of a few far-fetched schemes, but they aren't very plausible. If a meteorite with purely right-handed amino acids were found, an extension that supposed the existence of one with purely left-handed amino acids seems safe to me. Therefore the spectacular discovery would have been finding the purely right-handed amino acids. Is it possible that the original discovery of amino acids was a racemic mixture (both left and right handed molecules in equal amounts) ? Art ------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.