Monday's Molecule #238

Last week's molecules (right) [Monday's Molecule #237] were α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1➝4)-β-D-glucopyranose, the β anomer of maltose and α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1➝6)-α-D-glucopyranose, the β anomer of isomaltose. The winner is Dean Bruce. A surprising number of people got it right.

This week's molecules (below) are related. They are cytoplasmic (PDB 2P8U left) and mitochondrial (PDB 2WYA right) versions of very important enzymes. The human versions are shown. Name the enzymes and the products bound in the active sites (complete common name of the product). Mutations in one of the genes coding for one of these enzymes cause a rare genetic disease. Which one? Why are there no known diseases associated with genetic defects in the gene for the other version of the enzyme?

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #238. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of winners 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #86

 
In honor of all those students who are returning to college this week's molecule is another simple one that should be familiar to every undergraduate taking an introductory biochemistry course. Your task is to identify the molecule and give me its correct common name—the one required on an exam—and the complete, correct IUPAC name.

There's a direct connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize. We are looking for the single person most responsible for identifying this molecule as an important part of a metabolic pathway. This person didn't know the exact structure but got the basic chemistry correct. Be careful, there are several possible candidates who haven't already been featured on Sandalk. I want the one person who best meets the criterion.

The first person to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate, wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are four ineligible candidates for this week's reward. You know who you are.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I reserve the right to select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are no open.

UPDATE: The molecule is ATP of adenosine 5′-triphosphate. Lots of people got the molecule but nobody guessed the Nobel Laureate (Hans von Euler-Chelpin). There are no winners this week.

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Monday's Molecule #122: Winner?

 
UPDATE: The molecule is epinephrine or adrenaline. IUPAC name = (R)-4- (1-hydroxy-2- (methylamino)ethyl)benzene-1,2-diol.

The Nobel Laureate is Charles Robert Richet who discovered and described anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Epinephrine, in the form of an EpiPen, is used to treat anaphylactic shock.

Ten people got the molecule but Dima Klenchin was the only person to guess the correct Nobel Laureate. He isn't eligible so there is no winner this week.

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Today's molecule is a drug as well as a biological molecule that's found in some species. You need to supply the common name and the correct IUPAC name for this molecule. The stereochemistry isn't shown in the figure but you have to specify it in your answer.

As a drug, this molecule is used to treat a common but life-threatening condition. Identify that condition and name the Nobel Laureate who first described and characterized it.

The first person to identify the molecule and the Nobel Laureate wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first won the prize.

There are seven ineligible candidates for this week's reward: Mike Fraser of Toronto, Alex Ling of the University of Toronto, Laura Gerth of the University of Notre Dame, Stefan Tarnawsky of the University of Toronto, Dima Klenchin of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Adam Santoro of the University of Toronto., and Michael Clarkson of Waltham MA (USA).

The Canadians are still ahead in the competition between Canadians the rest of the world but their recent dominance is coming to an end. I want to thank all those smart Canadians who have been holding back in order to give the rest of the world a chance.

I still have one extra free lunch donated by a previous winner (Michael Clarkson) to a deserving undergraduate so I'm going to continue to award an additional free lunch to the first undergraduate student who can accept it. Please indicate in your email message whether you are an undergraduate and whether you can make it for lunch.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Prizes so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

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Monday's Molecule #125: Winner

 
Only one person guessed the molecule and that person was Bill Chaney from the University of Nebraska. Nebraska is very much like one of the provinces in western Canada so I count him as a honorary Canadian!

Naturally Bill also got the correct Nobel Laureate.

The molecule is lipoarabinomannan, also known as LAM. It's a complex derivative of phosphatidylinositol characterized by the presence of numerous mannose residues and branching arabinose chains. LAM is part of the cell wall of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis.

LAM is one of the major antigens in tuberculin, a complex that is easily isolated from cultures of M. tuberculosis. The complex antigen was used in skin tests for tuberculosis. Robert Koch was the first scientist to isolate tuberculin and he received the Nobel Prize in 1905 for his contributions to understanding how bacteria cause disease.

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This is the tentative structure of a very important molecule. It's "tentative" because the exact structure hasn't been fully worked out and because the "molecule" is heterogeneous—it's actually a mixture of several similar molecules.

Identify this molecule by giving its common name and the organism(s) from which it is derived. This particular molecule is part of a much larger complex that was first identified over 100 years ago. The person who discovered that large complex received a Nobel Prize. Identify the Nobel Laureate.

The first person to identify the molecule and the Nobel Laureate, wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for six weeks from the time they first won the prize. Please note the change in the length of time you are ineligible. The idea is to give more more people a chance to win.

There are nine ineligible candidates for this week's reward: Laura Gerth of the University of Notre Dame, Stefan Tarnawsky of the University of Toronto, Dima Klenchin of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Adam Santoro of the University of Toronto., Michael Clarkson of Waltham MA (USA), Òscar Reig of Barcelona, Maria Altshuler of the University of Toronto, Mike Fraser of the University of Toronto, and Jaseon Oakley of the University of Toronto.

Mike has saved Canadians from embarrassment.

I still have one extra free lunch donated by a previous winner to a deserving undergraduate so I'm going to continue to award an additional free lunch to the first undergraduate student who can accept it. Please indicate in your email message whether you are an undergraduate and whether you can make it for lunch.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Prizes so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours.

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[Image Credit: The structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoarabinomannan (LAM) by Achim Treumann and Steve Homans.]

Monday's Molecule #70

 
It's been a while since you had to identify a molecule and give it's correct IUPAC name so here's a molecule that will give you some practice. First, you should assume that this is the L- form of this molecule and not the D- form. (This isn't obvious from the chemical structure.)

Give the common name of the molecule and the complete IUPAC name.

Identify the two Nobel Laureates who were awarded a Nobel Prize, in the same year, for discovering the fundamental properties of this molecule.

The first person to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureates wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are only two ineligible candidates for this week's reward.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureates. Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureates so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: This week's winner is Maria Altshuler from the University of Toronto. She identified the molecule as L-dopa ((S)-2-amino-3- (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) propanoic acid) and the Nobel Laureates are Arvid Carlsson and Paul Greengard. Congratulations Maria, you beat out several others who came up with the correct answer. The University of Toronto is thumping all other schools in this contest!¹

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1. That might have something to do with the fact that you have to be in Toronto to collect the prize, ya think? Maybe I should have another prize for people who can't come to Toronto? How about a Tim Horton's gift certificate?

Nobel Laureate: Walter Norman Haworth

The Nobel Prize inChemistry 1937.

"for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C"


Sir Norman Haworth won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his work on the three-dimensional structure of carbohydrates in general and the structure of vitamin C in particular. The presentation speech summarizes his contribution to carbohydrate chemistry.

What has Haworth then accomplished within this domain? The answer may be thus formulated that he has, above all, made clear the chemical structure of vitamin C.

The chemical structure of substances is expressed by the so-called chemical formulas. By chemical analysis the percentage of the different elements - in this case of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen - which enter into a compound may be ascertained. Further, the weight of the atoms of the different elements, expressed for instance in relation to the atom of hydrogen, has long been known, the hydrogen atom being the lightest of all the elements. It is likewise possible to determine the weight of a particle, or molecule, of a compound, expressed in the same measure. It is hence possible to indicate how many atoms of the different elements are entering into one molecule of the compound. Thus, the gross formula of the compound is obtained. This formula, in the case of vitamin C, is quite simple, considering that it represents a vitamin, viz.: C6H8O6. This formula tells us that one molecule of vitamin C consists of 6 atoms of carbon, 8 of hydrogen, and 6 of oxygen. It also indicates that vitamin C may be conceived as having originated through the elimination of 4 atoms of hydrogen from one molecule of grape-sugar.

But it is possible to advance still further. By ingenious adjustment or speculation, reminding us somewhat of the play of a puzzle, only perhaps a little more intricate, a firm conception has been formed about the order in which the atoms combine. If we conceive an ultra-enlarged model of a molecule, taken at a certain moment - because the atoms are not at a standstill within the molecule - and place a white screen on the one side of the model, while the other is exposed to light, a shadow-figure, also called a projection, of the molecule is obtained on the screen, showing the position of the atoms in their relation to each other. A formula which is intended to reproduce this situation, under the assumption that the atoms were placed on the same plane, is called a structural formula. Such formulas have proved capable of explaining with a high degree of clarity the properties of the compound, and the puzzle thus may be considered as having been solved.

In reality it is, however, hardly correct to suppose that all the atoms within a molecule should be placed on the same plane; if that were the case, even the largest molecules would have the shape of a leaf of paper, which is less than probable. There remains then their dispersion in space, the so-called configuration, which also may be expressed by a formula.

Such a formula for vitamin C has been proposed by Haworth and Hirst, as well as by von Euler and has been subsequently proved to be correct by Haworth.

Haworth's acceptance speech from 1937 contains a number of structures that will be very familiar to biochemistry students. For example, he shows the strucures of α-D-glucopyranose and β-D-glucopyranose.

We recognize these structures today because of the way Haworth drew them to show the three-dimensional configuration. In fact, we now call these figures "Haworth projections" after the man who deciphered the configurations and conformations and developed a way of projecting them on a two-dimensional page.

The final strucure of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is also presented in Haworth's Nobel Lecture. In this case he choose to show it as a "Fischer projection" rather than the Haworth projection that he is famous for. (See Monday's Molecule #15 for the Haworth projection of vitamin C.)

The relationship between a properly drawn Fischer projection and a Haworth projection is the bane of biochemistry students since it comes up on countless exams. It's probably safe to say that the failure to appreciate Haworth's 1937 Nobel Prize is responsible for lowering the average grade of biochemistry students all over the world by 3-5%.

Monday's Molecule #61

 
Today's molecule is three molecules. You have to identify the purple molecule on the left and the blue one near the top. You also have to identify the multicolored double-stranded helically thing that's holding them all together. (Hint: it's DNA.) The electron micrographs at the top serve as additional hints.

You have to give me the common names of these molecules and explain what's going on in the figure. You'll be pleased to know that I don't need the systematic IUPAC name for this one. This should be as easy as falling off a log for every biochemistry and molecular biology student but I fear that it may fall into the category of things that have been forgotten in modern courses.

There's an indirect connection between this molecule and Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s). Your task is to figure out the significance of today's molecule and identify the Nobel Laureate(s) who worked with it. Here's an additional hint for this week only; I'm looking for a single name and if you can't decide between two or more possibilities, choose the earliest winner. (Be sure to check previous Laureates.)

The reward goes to the person who correctly identifies the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are three ineligible candidates for this week's reward. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk(at)bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureates so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow along with the time that the message was received on my server. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are no open.

UPDATE: No winner this week. There were (only) three people who got the molecule correct. Only one of them was close to getting the Nobel Laureate (singular). That person named him correctly (François Jacob) but he threw in a second Nobel Laureate who had already been featured on Sandwalk.

The molecule is lac repressor bound to two sites on DNA forming a loop. The loop contains the binding site for cyclic AMP regulatory (receptor) protein or CRP, also known as catabolite activator protein (CAP). That's the other protein in the figure. The figure is from Lac Repressor and Operator.

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Monday's Molecule #76

 
Name this molecule, being as specific as you can.

There's a direct connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize. The prize was awarded for discovering the basic structure of the molecule, although not at the level of detail depicted here. That came later.

The first person to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate(s), wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are four ineligible candidates for this week's reward. You know who you are.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is immunoglobulin G (IgG) and the Nobel Laureates are Gerald Edelman and Rodney Porter (1972). The first correct answer was from Jon Turnbull who beat everyone else by more than one hour! Honorable mention (and a free lunch) goes to Haruhiko Ishii of UCSD. Not only did he identify the molecule as IgG, he also showed that it was very likely to be Mab231, a mouse monoclonal anti-canine lymphoma antibody composed of IGg2a heavy chains and κ light chains [PDB 1IGT].

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Monday's Molecule #83

 

In honor of the Olympics, today's molecule is one that every athlete is afraid of. None of them want to allow this molecule to accumulate in their tissues during the competition.

Your task if to identify the molecule and its precursor and the enzyme responsible for the reaction. Be as specific as possible, especially when identifying the dangerous molecule on the right.

There's a indirect connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize. The Noble Laureate was among the first to identify the relationship between production of the molecule and the activity associated with the athletes. He won the prize for explaining, in part, why athletes get hot.

The first person to correctly identify the reaction and name the Nobel Laureate(s), wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are only two ineligible candidates for this week's reward. You know who you are.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I reserve the right to pick multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours.

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Monday's Molecule #188

Last week's molecule was N-formylmethionyl-tRNA_f^Met [Monday's Molecule #188]. Only three people came close. The winner was Mikkel Rasmussen.

Name these molecules. One of them has a well-known common name that you have to include in your answer. The other one also has a common name but you don't have to find it. You have to give the complete formal names of each molecule. Do you know the significance of these two molecules?

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.)

Monday's Molecule #24

 
Name this molecule. We need the exact name, preferably the correct one.

As usual, there's a connection between Monday's molecule and this Wednesday's Nobel Laureate. This one is dead easy. The prize (free lunch) goes to the person who correctly identifies both the molecule and the Nobel Laureate. (Previous free lunch winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first won.)

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

Monday's Molecule #18

 
Name this molecule. You must be specific but we don't need the full correct scientific name. (If you know it then please post it.)

As usual, there's a connection between Monday's molecule and this Wednesday's Nobel Laureate. This one's very easy once you know the molecule. There'll be a few extra bonus points for guessing Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s).

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), FMN and FAD

 
Monday's Molecule was Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide or FAD [Monday's Molecule #23]. The flavin moiety is the three ring structure at the top of the figure. It's attached to a sugar called ribitol drawn in an open chain conformation. The ribitol, in turn, is attached to a single phosphate group at the other end.

The structure shown in black is called flavin mononucleotide or FMN. The blue structure is an AMP group so the complete FAD molecule (black + blue) called a dinucleotide. FMN and FAD are important coenzymes that carry electrons from one reaction to another. We've already encountered FAD last week when we described the pyruvate dehdrogenase reaction. In that reaction the FAD molecule picked up two electrons from the lipoamide swinging arm and passed them on to NAD⁺.

FMN and FAD are required for important reactions in all species. They are made from riboflavin (right). Riboflavin can be synthesized in bacteria, protists, fungi, plants and some animals but mammals have lost the ability to make it. Instead, we have to obtain riboflavin from our food and that's why it's a vitamin in humans (vitamin B₂). (It's not a "vitamin" in other species since they can make it themselves.)

Riboflavin deficiency is quite rare because we can usually get enough from the bacteria that inhabit our intestines. The most common cases of riboflavin deficiency are seen in chronic alcoholics who often show deficiencies in many other vitamins as well.

FMN and FAD are tightly bound to the enzymes that require them as cofactors. These enzymes often have a characteristic yellow color because of the flavin. One of the most famous enzymes in biochemistry is a flavoprotein called "Old Yellow Enzyme," which turned out to be an NADPH oxidase.

FMN and FAD are cofactors that can carry one or two electrons as shown below. This makes them similar to ubiquinone. There are many reactions that exchange electrons between FMN/FAD and ubiquinone in short electron transport chains. The passage of electrons from one cofactor/coenzyme to another is governed by well-defined chemical rules developed by chemists and biochemists at the beginning of the last century.

Monday's Molecule #28

 
Today's molecule looks a little complicated but all we need is the trivial name. If you can supply the correct chemical name that would be impressive

As usual, there's a connection between Monday's molecule and this Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s). This one is an indirect connection but it should be obvious to anyone who has studied biochemistry/molecular biology.

The reward (free lunch) goes to the person who correctly identifies both the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Previous free lunch winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are no ineligible candidates for this Wednesday's reward since recent winners have declined the prize on the grounds that they live in another country and can't make it for lunch on Thursday. (A feeble excuse, in my opinion. )

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

Monday's Molecule #85

 
This week marks the beginning of a new term at many colleges and universities in the USA. To mark the occasion, I've chosen a simple molecule that should be familiar to every undergraduate taking an introductory biochemistry course. Your task is to indentify the molecule and give me its correct common name—the one required on an exam—and the complete, correct IUPAC name.

There's a direct connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize. We are looking for the single person most responsible for identifying this molecule as part of a metabolic pathway. This person didn't know the exact structure but got the basic chemistry correct. Be careful, there are several possible candidates who haven't already been featured on Sandalk. I want the one person who best meets the criterion.

The first person to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate, wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are four ineligible candidates for this week's reward. You know who you are.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I reserve the right to select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: This week's winner is Bill Chaney of the University of Nebraska. He correctly identified the molecule as β-D-fructofuranose 1,6- bisphosphate and he chose [(2R,3S,4S,5R) -2,3,4 -trihydroxy-5- (phosphonooxymethyl) oxolan-2-yl] methyl dihydrogen phosphate as the correct IUPAC name [but see IUPAC]. That's probably more information than we needed but Chaney was the first to reply (by several hours). The Noble Laureate is Arthur Harden.

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Monday's Molecule #74

 
This is an important molecule for some species but not for others. You need to identify the molecule, give its correct common name and the formal IUPAC name. Pay attention to the correct names because there are several similar compounds

There's an direct connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize. The prize was awarded for purifying the molecule, determining its structure, and figuring out what it does. The first person to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate(s) wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are four ineligible candidates for this week's reward.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule shown above is cortosol or hydrocortisone (11,17,21- trihydroxy-,(11β)- pregn-4-ene-3,20- dione) [8R, 9R, 10R, 11S, 13S, 14S,17R)-11,17- dihydroxy-17- (2-hydroxyacetyl)-10,13- dimethyl- 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16-decahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-one]. The Nobel Laureates are Edward Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, and Philip Hench (1950).

The first person to get it right was Matt Wagner, a student at Queen's University in Kingson ON (Canada).

University of Toronto students aren't doing so well these days, although, in fairness, there were two who got it right this time. They were late sending in their answers, presumably because they were up all night doing experiments and didn't see my posting until noon hour.

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Monday's Molecule #55

 
This is a strange-looking molecule. You have to name it, giving us the common name and the correct systematic IUPAC name.

There's a direct connection between this molecule and Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s). Your task is to figure out the significance of today's molecule and identify the Nobel Laureate(s) who worked out the structure of the molecule.

The reward goes to the person who correctly identifies the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There is only one ineligible candidates for this week's reward because Sandwalk readers have not been very successful in recent weeks. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk(at)bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Correct responses will be posted tomorrow along with the time that the message was received on my server. I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE:We have a winner! Alex Ling (again) knew that the molecule was morphine [(5α,6α)-7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol] and he guessed the Noble Laureate correctly. Two other readers got morphine and the Nobel Laureate but they did not provide the correct IUPAC name as required.

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Monday's Molecule #19

 
Name this molecule. You must be specific but we don't need the full correct scientific name. (If you know it then please post it.)

As usual, there's a connection between Monday's molecule and this Wednesday's Nobel Laureate. This one's easy once you know the molecule and make the connection. There'll be a few extra bonus points for guessing Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s).

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

Monday's Molecule #88

 
For this week's quiz you need to identify the top molecule. The bottom one is a hint so you can get the correct molecule.

There's a connection between today's molecule and a Nobel Prize but the connection is indirect. I'm looking for the person who discovered the molecule. This person won the Nobel Prize for the discovery and for identifying the function but, as it turns out, the function was incorrect.

The first one to correctly identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate, wins a free lunch at the Faculty Club. Previous winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are three ineligible candidates for this week's reward. You know who you are.

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk (at) bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecule and names the Nobel Laureate(s). Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureate(s) so you might want to check the list of previous Sandwalk postings by clicking on the link in the theme box.

Correct responses will be posted tomorrow. I reserve the right to select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Dima Klenchin from the University of Wisconsin figured out that the molecule was cytochrome c from some organism. (It was tuna, Thunnus alalungo, PDB 5CYT.) The Nobel Laureate was difficult but Dima uses scientific reasoning to get the correct answer: Otto Warburg (1931). Congratulations Dima!

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Monday's Molecule #35

 
This is a very common chemical found in most biochemistry labs. There's a very familiar form of this molecule and most of you will know it by the name of the salt. You need to supply the correct IUPAC name in order to win the prize.

There's an extremely obvious, but indirect, connection between this Monday's Molecule and Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s).

The reward (free lunch) goes to the person who correctly identifies the molecule and the Nobel Laureate(s). Previous free lunch winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are no ineligible candidates for this Wednesday's reward since many recent winners haven't collected their prize. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.