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May 5, 2020

Hidden Symmetry Discovered in Chemical Kinetic Equations – Significant for Drug Design, Genetics & More

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, information science

Rice University researchers have discovered a hidden symmetry in the chemical kinetic equations scientists have long used to model and study many of the chemical processes essential for life.

The find has implications for drug design, genetics and biomedical research and is described in a study published on April 21, 2020, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To illustrate the biological ramifications, study co-authors Oleg Igoshin, Anatoly Kolomeisky and Joel Mallory of Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) used three wide-ranging examples: protein folding, enzyme catalysis and motor protein efficiency.

Igoshin said the symmetry “wasn’t that hard to prove, but no one noticed it before.”

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