Evening star., 1952-04-28
Radioactive Isofopes
ALLOW Orderly Study
|0f Bricks ofLife'
By Thomas R. Henry

| uSuNO W 3uu~
BY Thomas R. Henry
There are more than a billion
kinds of bricks in the house of
life.
Now, for the first time, they are
being gathered out of utter chaos
and put in orderly piles. This de-
velopment is made possible by use
of radioactive isotopes of two of
the basic constituents of life, car
bon and sulphur. It was reported
at the opening session of the Ma
tional Academy of Sciences here
today by DR.. Philip H. Abelson
and his associates of the Terres-
trial Magnetism Laboratory. Of
the Carnegie Institution of WASH
ington.
The bricks are proteins. These
occur, for the most part. as gi-
gantic molecules. Each molecule
contains the elements carbon, hy-
drogen, oxygen and nitrog
Most also contain sulphur and
two or three other elements. In
animals proteins make up mus
cleS. blood. glands-about every
thing except bone and fat. They
constitute a large part of plant
structure. They are essential to
life. They are one of the three
absolute essentials of food.
Derived From Amino Acids.
These "bricks" are baked out of
an extremely complex clay-the
amino acids. These are much
simpler nitrogen-containing sub
stances which can be combined
chemically in a nearly infinite
number of ways.
There are 20 of these amino
acids known. Eleven of them are
absolutely essential to human life.
Each brick" or protein molecule,
contains from 200 to 10000 of
these acids. Those with 10000 are
almost big enough to be seen with
an electron microscope, although
never with a visual microscope.
When a molecule gets much big
ger it is the size of a filterable
virus - disease-causing organism
which is probably the lowest and
simplest living thing.
The amino acids are stuck to-
Igether in all sorts of ways so that
there are as many possible pro-
teinS as there are all possible COM
binations of 20 in 10000, at least.
The number is probably greater
than all the stars in creation but
life apparently makes use of only
about a billion patterns.
Protein Synthesis Studied.
The proteins can be eaten di-
rectly. They can be synthesized
by the body itself out of amino
acids contained in the food. DR..
Abelson and his associates studied
the process of protein synthesis
in one of the simplest of living
things-a form of bacteria called
escherichia cold. It is abundant
everywhere. There is a new gen.
Grafton every hour. Every biolog-
ical process, including protein
making. is "telescoped" into this
brief period.
The bacterium is about the low
est kind of plant and at the very
bottom of the structure of life.
But among the most remarkable
findings of DR.. Abelson and his
associteS, Drs. E. T. Bolton and
r. B. Roberts, is that some of
its basic chemical processes are
very similar to those of man. It
uses. for example, most of the
same engines chemical sub
stances necessary for the carrying
out of a biological process, but
which do not themselves enter
into it-as human beings in the
process of burning sugar to pro-
duce energy.
Able to Observe Changes.
The Carnegie Institution work.
ers used radioactive forms of car
bon and sulfur in their expert
nientS. BY this means they have
been able to label amino acids and
observe what happens to them as
they are combined into proteins
This led to the discovery that
there are certain basic building
patterns-perhaps the basic pat
terms of life itself.
Bacteria were grown under con-
ditions which made one-and only
one-amino acid, cysteine. radio
active. The long chains of the
protein molecules were then bro
ken down into small pieces. Each
piece included cysteine, simplest
Of all the amino acids. They found 4
that the cysteine did not combine
with other acids at random, but {
according to some quite definite s
patterns. \
They also found that natures 6
brick-making tends to make use ]
Of certain "Sub-aSSemblieS" of
amino acids. One of the most i'm Y
portant of these is glutathione, aI(
found in almost all liv- I
ing tissue. II
Should similar discoveries be eIr
made in other forms of life and:s