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Substantial-Visual35 t1_ir5ln1m wrote

I really like to pretend that I understand what most of these posts are saying But it's getting out of my hand ...I can't even comprehend what the title says anymore :(

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[deleted] t1_ir5q7q3 wrote

[deleted]

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jangiri t1_ir6cy2q wrote

I've heard the story of how Sharpless came up with the Click reaction and it was basically him listing a bunch of qualities in a reaction that would fill this need in biology. Him and his lab then just searched for it and they found the click reaction and then it blew up. It's the combo of knowing what biology research required, and the organic chemistry that could make that happen which really makes this such an elegant development.

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[deleted] t1_ir60z0o wrote

Most chemical reactions in orgo require chemical solvents....that is not compatible with life. These Nobel prize winners discovered a special chemical reaction that can take place basically in water. That is very useful because life is in water from the protein level to cells all the way up to moving organisms. The nobel prize winners also demonstrated the utility of the reaction in living things as well as on biological molecules like proteins. The reaction is a fantastic way of labeling things in a cell or in an animal or maybe even a human. It can be used to make biomolecules like adding a drug to a protein easily that can be used as a therapy. You can also click together DNA to make what ever you want, and living cells have been shown they're capable of tolerating it. There are also many applications outside of biology....for example all sorts of useful polymers can be made by clicking together molecules.

It's an extremely useful and powerful chemical reaction suitable for life that helps unlock many mysteries of a cell or living organism. It is incredibly useful for industrial purposes as well because you can avoid a lot of toxic solvents.

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