Molecules

Buckeyballs, spheres of pure carbon shaped like a soccer ball, have been found in a piece of the Allende meteorite that landed in Mexico in 1969--the first evidence that the exotic molecules can be found in nature. The spheres, named after Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, were first synthesized in chemistry labs in 1985. The new finding, reported in today's Nature, confirms speculation that they might be found in space.

Pharmaceutical researchers have found the first simple molecule that, given by mouth, can mimic the action of insulin in diabetics, a discovery that could eventually free millions of people from the burden of injecting insulin two or more times a day. Isolated from a fungus growing on the leaves of a plant collected outside Kinshasa, Congo, the chemical controls blood glucose levels in mice specially bred to develop diabetes, the team reports in today's Science.

What do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cars and CDs have in common? They are all made of atoms and molecules. Everything in the universe is made of these things. Want to learn more about the building blocks of our universe? Use the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site, http://latimes.com/launchpoint/ Level 1 HyperMedia Textbook (Water, Matter and Energy, Atoms and Molecules): What happens to the molecules in water when water becomes an ice cube?

Researchers have identified a molecule that plays a key role in causing asthma symptoms, a finding that could lead to new treatments for the disorder that affects 15 million Americans.

Scientists have altered a gene in rats' livers by injecting a "repairman" molecule into the animals' bloodstreams. The technique might lead to an eventual cure for hemophilia and some other inherited diseases in people. The startling thing was how well it worked, scientists said. The treatment produced a specific change in about 40% of the rat liver's supply of the targeted gene.

Casting a shadow of doubt over the most dramatic and contentious scientific claim in memory--that fossil life forms were found on a meteorite from Mars--two new studies suggest that organic molecules on the famous rock were actually picked up on Earth. The highly charged debate over the true nature of the submicroscopic fossils is far from settled, however.

Researchers have identified a natural molecule that prevents HIV from infecting cells, a basic discovery they say could lead eventually to powerful new types of AIDS drugs or even a vaccine. The molecule, discovered by a team led by famed AIDS researcher Robert C. Gallo, works against HIV by physically blocking the portal used by the virus to invade lymphocytes and other types of blood cells.

Of all chemist Michael Sailor's many prestigious awards, the one that probably describes him best is the small stuffed lamb that sits atop a file cabinet in his office at UC San Diego. It was given to him by colleagues after his first year of graduate work in 1984--the prize for "best new researcher under the mental age of 3." A quick scan of his office shows that nothing much has changed. There's a Fierce Warrior remote-controlled car (black with orange flames), a gum ball machine, Mr.

The stocky big-game hunters known as Neanderthals who lived during the last Ice Age did not evolve into modern humans, nor did the two groups intermarry and have surviving children--even though they apparently roamed prehistoric Europe and Asia together for thousands of years, an international research team reported Thursday.

Japanese scientists say that by delving inside a cell membrane they have found the world's tiniest natural motor. The protein molecule, called F1-ATPase, rotated with an incredible force, and they were able to videotape the motion. "We now show that a single molecule of F1-ATPase acts as a rotary motor, the smallest known, by direct observation of its motion," a team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology reported in the March 20 issue of the journal Nature.