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Science Signaling - Call For Papers

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Science 17 January 1997:
Vol. 275. no. 5298, pp. 306 - 0
DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5298.306
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Research News

Jocelyn Kaiser

Compared to nature's chemical wizardry, human chemists are all thumbs. Inside plant cells, for instance, tiny chemical factories manage to crank out just one version of a chemical flawlessly, while most test-tube reactions yield messy mixtures of many isomers. But now researchers report on page 362 that they have discovered what appears to be a whole new class of compounds, so-called "dirigent" proteins that seem to grab and maneuver chemical building blocks so they join in the proper orientation. The finding could be a boon for drug companies and the paper industry.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)