Chapter IV: Biochemistry and Cellular Biology

Excerpt from "Finding Amino" by Mala Radhakrishnan

...

A bouncing baby glycine was he,

Who disappeared so mysteriously.

Did hydrolysis cause this situation,

Or was it by Edman degradation?

...

We’ll search throughout this aqueous medium,

Too vested to notice the mind-numbing tedium.

The solvent is really a dangerous place

For tiny amino acids to face!”

These words were said by a lysine so strong,

Its side chain four carbons, one nitrogen long,

Which, within the protein, had found a nice mate,

Now forming a salt bridge with glutamate.

Their love now disrupted and put to the test,

As they had to spread out and search hard in this quest,

For the slightly salty solvent was vast

And filled with proteins floating past.

...