Homoquiralidad

Asignación de las configuraciones R y S en un centro quiral.

Homochirality refers to the property of a group of molecules having the same chirality. A substance is said to be homochiral if all the constituent units are molecules of the same chiral form (enantiomer). Life requires polymers with all building blocks having the same chiral form, such as DNA and RNA having only 'right-handed' sugars and proteins being formed only by 'left-handed' amino acids. Homochirality is a unique property of living matter and gradually disappears after the death of living matter. Homochirality presents a challenge to materialists who need to explain the origin of life via purely natural mechanisms.

See Also

• Cell Biology
• Genetics
• Gene Expression
• Amino Acids

Related references

• Origin of life: the chirality problem by Jonathan Sarfati. TJ 12(3):263–266. December 1998
• Evolution Hopes You Don't Know Chemistry: The Problem with Chirality by Charles McCombs, Ph.D.
• Homochirality, a Puzzle in Biology that Remains Unsolved by Evolution News & Views May 12, 2012

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