Monday's Molecule #101

 
This is the last Monday's Molecule for 2008. There will be a short Christmas break. Monday's Molecule will return on January 5th. As part of the Christmas celebrations, this week's molecule is a gift.

Your task is to identify this molecule and give it a biochemically accurate name (the IUPAC name would be perfect). The Nobel Laureate should be obvious once you identify the molecule.

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 four ineligible candidates for this week's reward: Ms. Sandwalk from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Alex Ling of the University of Toronto, Timothy Evans of the University of Pennsylvania, and John Bothwell of the Marine Biological Association of the UK in Plymouth, UK. John, Dale and Ms. Sandwalk have offered to donate the free lunch to a deserving undergraduate so the next two undergraduates to win and collect a free lunch can also invite a friend. Alex got the first one.

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: The molecule is 2&prime,3′-dideoxycytidine 5′-monophosphate. This molecule differs from the normal cellular version of deoxycytidine because it is missing a second hydroxyl group at the 3′ position on the sugar. The triphosphate version of this molecule is a substrate for DNA polymerase and it will be incorporated into a growing DNA chain. However, once it is incorporated, the polymerization reaction stops because the 3′ hydroxyl group is essential for addition of the next nucleotide.

Dideoxynucleotides are used in the chain termination method of DNA sequencing developed by Frederick Sanger. Sanger received his second Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing this method, which remains the most popular method of DNA sequencing.

I was surprised that only a few people responded and even more surprised that some of the regulars didn't give a correct name for this molecule. There is no winner this week because I am being strict about nomenclature. If you didn't specify where the phosphate is attached (5′) or you used "cytosine" instead of "cytidine," then you don't get a free lunch! (Cytosine is the base, cytidine is the nucleoside.)

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Monday's Molecule #202

The last Monday's Molecule was the pyrrolysine, 23rd amino acid. The winner was Michael Florea [Monday's Molecule #201].

Today's molecule is an enzyme. Homologous enzymes are found in all species. They play an essential role in metabolism. The green part binds the substrate and the subsequent reaction reduces a bound FAD prosthetic group (yellow). Electrons are then passed to an FAD molecule in the purple part in the orientation shown on the left. Notice that the yellow FAD molecules are close together. (The two purple parts on the left should be joined but the connection can't be resolved in the structure.) This electron transfer results in a shift in conformation to the conformation of the purple structure shown on the right. Note that the FAD molecule has shifted to a less exposed position. The purple protein then dissociates and carries electrons to an membrane-bound enzyme that transfers electrons to ubiquinol (QH₂). Name the green protein and the purple protein.

This week I'm trying a new format in order to avoid moderating comments. Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #202. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #138: Winner

 
The purple molecule is cyclin bound to phospho-cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) (yellow) and kinase-associated phosphatase (KAP) (blue). The Nobel Laureate is Tim Hunt.

There were lots of correct answers from Asia and Europe this time around but also a few from North America.

This week's winner is Joshua Johnson of Victoria University in Australia. The posting time was convenient for Australians since his email message was sent at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There wasn't an undergraduate winner this week so I'll carry over the undergraduate prize for next week's molecule.

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This is the earliest posting of a Monday's Molecule. It should make the contest open to a whole new category of Sandwalk readers, especially those in Europe who will see it long before the readers in North America are awake.

It will also work for Asian readers and a few North and South Americans who are up very late at night. (Note to the latter group: get a life! )

The molecule is a compex of three different proteins. One of them—the yellow one—has already been featured as a Monday's Molecule last April. This time I want you to identify the purple molecule. It was first identified and characterized in the organism shown below then subsequently found in lots of other species.

The Nobel Laureate from last April shared the prize with the person who discovered today's molecule. Name that Nobel Laureate.

The first person to identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate wins a free lunch. Previous winners are ineligible for six weeks from the time they first won the prize.

There are only three ineligible candidates for this week's reward: Philip Johnson of the University of Toronto, Ben Morgan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Frank Schmidt of the University of Missouri.

Frank has agreed to donate his free lunch to a deserving undergraduate. Consequently, I have an extra free lunch for a deserving undergraduate so I'm going to award an additional prize 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. If you can't make it for lunch then please consider donating it to someone who can in the next round.

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(s) 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 #201

The last Monday's Molecule was L-gulose and the winner was Bill Gunn. It was a special anniversary (#200) so I reposted my original Monday's Molecule from November 13, 2006 [Monday's Molecule #200]. I don't think it was any easier this year than it was seven years ago. That's a shame since biochemistry students should have had no problem getting the right answer if they understand the basic concept behind drawing structures of carbohydrates.

Let's see if you can do any better with the same molecule from November 20, 2006. It's a common molecule, although I think it's not taught in most introductory biochemistry courses. It's in most of the textbooks.

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 #181

Last week's molecule was an intermediate in some amino acid biosynthesis pathways and the enzyme that makes it is the target of Roundup®. Replacing this enzyme with a Roundup® resistant version yields genetically modified food plants [Monday's Molecule #180].

This week's molecule is a lot more complicated. You need to identify the specific type of molecule. Defective metabolism of this molecule is associated with a famous disease. Name the disease.

Post your answers 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.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date. Please try and beat the regular winners. Most of them live far away and I'll never get to take them to lunch. This makes me sad.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is ganglioside G_M2. Defects in ganglioside synthesis are responsible for a number of genetic diseases in humans including Tay-Sachs disease. This is the same molecule featured in Monday's Molecule #162 back on March 19, 2012. There was no winner that time.

This week's winner is Matt McFarlane, an undergraduate. He lives in Canada but he's quite far away and probably won't make it for lunch.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 9: no winner
April 16: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 23: Dima Klenchin, Deena Allan
April 30: Sean Ridout
May 7: Matt McFarlane
May 14: no winner
May 21: no winner
May 29: Mike Hamilton, Dmitri Tchigvintsev
June 4: Bill Chaney, Matt McFarlane
June 18: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
June 25: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 2: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 16: Sean Ridout, William Grecia
July 23: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 30: Bill Chaney and Raul A. Félix de Sousa
Aug. 7: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
Aug. 13: Matt McFarlane

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Monday's Molecule #206

Last week's molecule was myricyl palmitate, the major component of beeswax [Monday's Molecule #205]. The winner was Bill Chaney. There was no undergraduate winner.

Today's molecule is a very common molecule shown in a somewhat unusual conformation. (It's the conformation of the molecule when it's bound to a certain enzyme.) Identify the molecule (common name only). Can you describe the conformation?

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #206. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #203

The last Monday's Molecule was medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) (PDB 2AIT). Nobody got the right answer [Monday's Molecule #202].

Today's molecule is very important for humans. You need to supply the common name AND a more official IUPAC name that identifies the configuration of the bonds. You also need to briefly explain why this molecule is important in humans.

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #202. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #145

 

I'm restarting Monday's Molecule. The last one was almost two years ago [Monday's Molecule #144].

The rules have changed a bit. Monday's Molecule will no longer be linked to a Noble Prize because I'm running out of Nobel Prizes that lend themselves to such a linkage. All you have to do is supply the complete, unambiguous, name of the molecule to win a free lunch. Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins.

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.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. Many of them have kindly donated their free lunch to the next contest.

Name the molecule shown in the figure. Remember that your name has to be unambiguous. The best way to do this is to use the full IUPAC name but there are several traditional names that will do.

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Monday's Molecule #197

The last "Monday's Molecule" was β-D-mannopyranose, shown in boat and chair configurations [Monday's Molecule #196]. The winners were Bill Chaney, Dima Klenchin, and Bill Gunn. Bill Gunn should contact me if he is within range of Toronto.

Students often find it very difficult to distinguish between various stereoisomers. For example, many of you thought that the last molecule was glucose. This week's molecule should present a real challenge for most of you. It's a common molecule, present in all cells and it has a common name by which it is identified in most textbooks. However, the common name isn't good enough because there are several different conformations. The conformation shown in the figure is the only one that's synthesized in the normal reaction. Name this molecule using whatever conventions you have to employ to identify it correctly. [Hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity. You should be able to infer their positions.]

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 #184

Last week's molecule was raltitrexid, an anti-cancer drug [Monday's Molecule #183]. The winner was Raul A. Félix de Sousa. Raul has won ten times since I restarted Monday's Molecule last November.

This week's molecule is another strange-looking molecule with a very specific purpose. Identify the molecule and its role in mammals.

Post your answers 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.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date. Please try and beat the regular winners. Most of them live far away and I'll never get to take them to lunch. This makes me sad.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is warfarin or Coumadin®, a rat poison and an anticoagulant. It's a competitive inhibitor of vitamin K reductase and this blocks blood clotting. The winner is Matt McFarlane, one of the few people who can actually collect a free lunch. Please contact me by email.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 9: no winner
April 16: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 23: Dima Klenchin, Deena Allan
April 30: Sean Ridout
May 7: Matt McFarlane
May 14: no winner
May 21: no winner
May 29: Mike Hamilton, Dmitri Tchigvintsev
June 4: Bill Chaney, Matt McFarlane
June 18: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
June 25: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 2: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 16: Sean Ridout, William Grecia
July 23: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
July 30: Bill Chaney and Raul A. Félix de Sousa
Aug. 7: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
Aug. 13: Matt McFarlane
Aug. 20: Stephen Spiro
Aug. 27: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
Sept. 3: Matt McFarlane

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Monday's Molecule #138

 
This is the earliest posting of a Monday's Molecule. It should make the contest open to a whole new category of Sandwalk readers, especially those in Europe who will see it long before the readers in North America are awake.

It will also work for Asian readers and a few North and South Americans who are up very late at night. (Note to the latter group: get a life! )

The molecule is a compex of three different proteins. One of them—the yellow one—has already been featured as a Monday's Molecule last April. This time I want you to identify the purple molecule. It was first identified and characterized in the organism shown below then subsequently found in lots of other species.

The Nobel Laureate from last April shared the prize with the person who discovered today's molecule. Name that Nobel Laureate.

The first person to identify the molecule and name the Nobel Laureate wins a free lunch. Previous winners are ineligible for six weeks from the time they first won the prize.

There are only three ineligible candidates for this week's reward: Philip Johnson of the University of Toronto, Ben Morgan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Frank Schmidt of the University of Missouri.

Frank has agreed to donate his free lunch to a deserving undergraduate. Consequently, I have an extra free lunch for a deserving undergraduate so I'm going to award an additional prize 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. If you can't make it for lunch then please consider donating it to someone who can in the next round.

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(s) 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 #204

The last Monday's Molecule was α-linolenate [Monday's Molecule #203]. It is an omega-3 essential fatty acid. The winner was Anders Ehrnberg.

Today's molecule is actually three different molecules (1,2 and 3). Give the common names for the terminal part of each molecule—the names used in most textbooks. Identify E₂ (enzyme name) and briefly explain what's going on.

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #204. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #227

Last week's molecule was the drug pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor used to treat excess stomach acid or acid reflux [Monday's Molecule #226 ]. The winner is Bill Gunn.

This week's molecule (left) is related to one from last April. That molecule, is one of the essential molecules in the human diet and today's molecule is the reason why. This is one of those molecules that everyone should recognize because it's a key metabolic precursor in a large number of species. This is one of those times when all you have to do is supply the common name (Merry Christmas!) and NOT the IUPAC systematic name that correctly identifies the exact molecule shown in the image. However, if anyone wants to supply the systemiac name, feel free to do so.

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #227. I'll hold off posting your answers for at least 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #208

Last week's molecule was the fatty acid synthase complex [Monday's Molecule #207]. The winner was Matt McFarlane. He should contact me by email to collect his winnings.

Today's molecule was pictured on a US stamp issued in April 2008. Can you identify the molecule? ... Be precise, there's only one correct answer and it may not be the one you think.

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #207. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #200

This is the 200th Monday's Molecule. I started this series back on November 13, 2006. Today's molecule is a repeat of that first one. Let's see if readers in 2013 can do better than those in 2006! The last "Monday's Molecule" was puromycin [Monday's Molecule #199]. The winners were Bell Gunn and River Jiang. River needs to contact me by email to set up a lunch date. I'm going to try and treat all the previous winners this week so if I owe you a lunch you should get in touch right away to collect.

The mystery molecule is an aldohexose. There are 16 different aldohexoses. The structures and names of 8 of them are show below in order to help you out.

This is a tough one. You have to know several carbohydrate naming conventions and you have to understand Fischer projections. Good luck.



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 #230

Last week's molecule was cholesterol [Monday's Molecule #229]. The figure shows how the molecule would look in a lipid bilayer (membrane). The winner was Tommy Stuleanu.

This week's molecule (below) is going to be hard. I won't be surprised if nobody gets the right answer. It's a key intermediate in an extremely important reaction. You need to give the common name AND the the overall reaction. Name the enzyme as well.

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #230. I'll hold off posting your answers for at least 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #214

Last week's molecule was 6-phosphogluconate, the second intermediate in the pentose phosphate pathway. Nobody got the right answer! [Monday's Molecule #213].

Classes have now started at most universities in North America so let's celebrate by picking a very simple molecule—one that most undergraduates should recognize if they've taken a biochemistry course. Derivatives of this molecule are essential components of several fundamental pathways; which ones? Give me the common name and the official IUPAC name.

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #214. I'll hold off posting your answers for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #229

Last week's molecule was NADP^⊕ or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. That was an easy one [Monday's Molecule #228 ]. The winner was Tom Mueller.

This week's molecule (below) is going to be a bit of a challenge because you can't see all of the hydrogen atoms. It's a very common molecule. All you have to do is supply the common name and NOT the IUPAC systematic name that correctly identifies the exact molecule shown in the image. However, if anyone wants to supply the systematic name, feel free to do so.

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #229. I'll hold off posting your answers for at least 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with 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 email message.)

Monday's Molecule #57

 
This is one particular form of a very common molecule. You have to name the specific molecule. The common name is sufficient. There will be bonus points to anyone who finds the correct systematic IUPAC name.

There's a direct connection between this type of 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 preliminary structure of the molecule over half a century ago.

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 no ineligible candidates for this week's reward because Sandwalk readers were not very successful in December. 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: There were quite a few responses to this one but most people didn't guess the right molecule. The anticipated correct response was bacteriochlorphyll b. Alex Ling got it, and he also guessed the correct Noble Laureate—the one "who worked out the preliminary structure of the molecule over half a century ago."

THEME:

Nobel Laureates
Note that I'm not going to repeat Nobel Laureates and I already did Hans Fisher. In future editions of Monday's Molecule I'll post a link to all the Nobel Laureates that have been featured on Sandwalk.

More importantly, Bill Chaney noticed that my structure was incorrect. I've made the change above. The structure is wrong in my book so I can't penalize Alex Ling for not knowing that. He is invited to a free lunch on Thursday, January 17th. Bill Chaney will be treated to a free lunch and dinner when he visits Toronto.

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Monday's Molecule #205

Last week's molecule was the lipoamide swinging arm of pyruvate dehydrogenase [Monday's Molecule #204]. The winners were Alex Ling and Michael Florea.

Today's molecule is a major component of something you are all familiar with. Identify the molecule (common name only) and where it's most likely to be found. (Hint: not in humans.)

Email your answers to me at: Monday's Molecule #205. I'll hold off posting your answers 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 email message.)