First successful total synthesis of Erythropoietin
Monday, October 15, 2012 - 07:01
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org)—"Blood is quite a peculiar kind of juice"—that is what Mephisto knew, according to Goethe's "Faust". But if blood really is very special, then erythropoietin (EPO) must be a very special molecule, as it triggers the production of our red blood cells. After ten years of intense research, American scientists have now succeeded in making a fully synthetic version of this special molecule. This achievement represents a landmark advance in the chemical synthesis of complex biological molecules from basic building blocks.