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lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams
@lorendw.bsky.social
35 followers 13 following 5 posts
I work on the ribosome, the origins of life, evolution and biological chemistry.
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lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams @lorendw.bsky.social · Mar 14
The amazing world of protein function, from Kavita's paper.
Structures and functions of polypeptides, which has access to a seemingly infinite landscapes of functional space. All of these structures are built on self-complementarity of the backbone. What a molecule!
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lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams @lorendw.bsky.social · Mar 14
RNA World, help.
1) Chicken & Egg: Multiple types of complex polymers (RNA and protein) cannot arise simultaneously.
2) Extant reflects ancient: extant functions of RNA are direct reflections of prebiotic behaviors.
3) Parsimony. The RNA world is simple. A simple model is a good model.
Is that it?
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lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams @lorendw.bsky.social · Mar 8
My second ever Bluesky post:

Another part of the work of my wonderful graduate student Kavita Matange (post doc at CSHL) has come out here (open access).

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Biological Polymers: Evolution, Function, and Significance
ConspectusA holistic description of biopolymers and their evolutionary origins will contribute to our understanding of biochemistry, biology, the origins of life, and signatures of life outside our pl...
pubs.acs.org
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lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams @lorendw.bsky.social · Mar 8
I apologize that that paper is behind a paywall. You can access it free here:

williams.chemistry.gatech.edu/publications...
williams.chemistry.gatech.edu
lorendw.bsky.social
Loren Williams @lorendw.bsky.social · Mar 8
My first ever Bluesky post:
Some of the work of my wonderful graduate student Kavita Matange (now a post doc at CSHL) has just come out.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of complex chemical mixtures reveals combinatorial compression and population synchronicity - Nature Chemistry
Origins-of-life research has focused on specific chemical reactions that might lead to biological molecules. Now an experimental model of chemical evolution based on oscillating water activity has bee...
www.nature.com
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