Janurary 22nd-26th: Deoxyribonucleic Acid Fifty years ago Watson and Crick introduced the idea that DNA formed a double-helix. At the time, it did not escape their notice "that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." Shown here is a portion of a strand of this nucleic acid that forms the basis of genetic inheritance.
January 29th-February 2nd: Taxol Taxol is an antitumor agent that was first isolated from the bark of the yew tree (most commonly found in northeastern United States) in 1971. Arguably the greatest bio-prospected success ever, it is FDA approved for the treatment of many ovarian, breast, Kaposi's sarcoma, and lung cancers.
February 5th-9th: Superbowl U.S. football fans have been looking forward all year to Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2006. Australian researchers recently made their own "superbowls" by linking five smaller bowl-shaped molecules. These molecules have potential use in drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, and separations.
February 19th-23rd: DHA Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid found in cold-water fish and linked with reducing the risks of heart and other diseases in humans. It’s even being added to infant formula.
February 26th-March 2nd: ATP Animals get energy from food and plants from sunlight, but they both use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to store this energy in a form that their cells can use. When cells need this energy, enzymes signal the ATP molecules to break chemical bonds in the phosphate chain, a chemical reaction that releases energy.