Chirality leads to chirality, therefore, do you think that if nature would have chosen R-amino acid instead of L-amino acid as building block in our protein, human would have the heart on the other side?
2006-10-12 11:36:53 · 2 answers · asked by Alexis (From France) 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
This reminds me of a science fiction short story I read a long time ago about a couple of scientists who invented a machine that allowed them to visit the 4th dimension, but when they returned, they were "flipped over" so that all of their molecules and everything else were the opposite handedness from when they left. So their right hand was now their left hand and their heart was on the right side instead of their left, etc, etc. The real problem arose when they tried to eat something. All of their enzymes were unable to digest the foods that they were eating, because they were the wrong handedness. So they started to starve until they figured out that they had to synthesize the opposite handed foodstuffs, which was prohibitively expensive. The author was Aurthur C. Clarke, I believe. I'll not tell you how it ended. I'm sorry I can't remember the title of it.
2006-10-12 12:01:39 · answer #1 · answered by Sciencenut 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, in fact some people do have their heart on the right side. That's a macroscopic effect not really reflected by protein folding.
2006-10-12 11:42:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋