Amino acid

• NEW YORK, May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syntekabio (226330.KQ), a global artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery pioneer, today announced its participation at the 20th Annual PEGS Boston – The Essential Protein & Antibody Engineering Summit, where the company will highlight its novel biologics platform.
• The event is being held May 13-17, 2024 at the Omni Hotel at the Seaport, Boston, MA.
• Jonathan Witztum, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Syntekabio USA Inc., commented: “PEGS Boston is an excellent platform for us to present our in-silico biologics platform and our comprehensive set of AI-driven solutions for drug discovery.
• Don't miss the opportunity to meet with Syntekabio's team at Booth 40 to learn how the company’s services can find solutions to solve pipeline challenges, fast.

• But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., I heard a gleeful exclamation from across the room.
• The instrument had detected telltale signatures of ancient amino acids in eggshell.
• Amino acids are the building blocks that make up protein sequences in living organisms.

• As Penkman’s enthusiasm suggested, these amino acids were extraordinary.
• In fact, this result came unexpectedly amid our team’s efforts to test claims of near-pristine protein preservation in dinosaur bone.

Orphan fossil fragments

• I predicted that if dinosaur eggshells didn’t preserve any original proteins, then their bones likely wouldn’t preserve any either, and wanted to see whether that was the case.
• Around 2000, many eggshell fragments were illegally exported from Argentina into the commercial market.
• These fossil fragments in some ways gained scientific value because they didn’t belong to any museum collections.

Amino acids in eggshell

• Although some eggshells preserved amino acids far better than others, the evidence overall suggested that these molecules were ancient and original, possibly ranging from 66 million to 86 million years old.
• The remaining amino acids we detected, however, consisted of free molecules that had broken off from their protein chains by reactions with water.

• Amino acids can occur in left- or right-handed configurations.
• After the organism dies, amino acids can convert between handedness until they reach 50-50 mixtures of both configurations.

Calcite, an amino acid archive

• Bird eggshell is even among the best materials to find preserved protein sequences in fossils, let alone free amino acids.
• Demarchi’s team has detected short, intact sequences of amino acids still bound in a chain from bird eggshell at least 6.5 million years old.
• Other researchers have claimed to have found more ancient amino acids, as well as more extreme and less likely claims of preserved protein sequences.

Using calcite to look back in time

• So, what messages from ancient life might persist in these calcite time capsules?
• For example, marine arthropods called trilobites that lived more than half a billion years ago had calcite in their eyes.
• Fossil calcite, Earth’s molecular time capsule, may send faint tales from long-gone life for researchers to better understand their biology.

This research was supported by the University of Bristol Bob Savage Memorial Fund and the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2012-116).

• The global Plant Biostimulants market, valued at US$2.7 Billion in 2022, is on a robust growth trajectory with expectations to reach a substantial US$6.6 Billion by the year 2030.
• This growth represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% over the forecast period from 2022-2030.
• The impressive expansion reflects a rising demand for sustainable agriculture solutions as well as proactive government policies endorsing environmentally friendly farming practices.
• The United States Plant Biostimulants market is currently assessed at US$457.4 Million, establishing itself as a considerable player within the industry in 2022.

• Former Army Ranger and Nutrient Survival CEO, Eric Christianson, outlines his critical 10 steps for disaster preparedness, to help individuals and communities stay safe and resilient during challenging times.
• Ensure everyone knows how to get in touch and where to meet in case of separation during a disaster.
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• Christianson encourages everyone to not only collect these essential items but also to regularly review and refresh their disaster preparedness kits.