Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

I’m not saying he’s wrong — I have neither the education nor the experience nor the time to do so — but as a word of caution: One single atom in a different place, or a chiral flip of the molecule as a whole, can radically change the biological response of a chemical.

H2O is good; remove one atom, get explosive H2; add one atom get the bleach H2O2.

For chirality: S-penicillamine is an anti-arthritic, R-penicillamine is highly toxic[0] (I was going to use thalidomide as my example, but that turns out to be something which changes between both chiralities inside your own body).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillamine)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: