This week, we spent some time talking about A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA and how the individual nucleotides are able to twist in specific directions but not others. I know I also wondered why only only one direction is allowed, why is that twist more favorable over another. Maybe you have always wondered the same thing as well!
I came across an article linked below about a group of scientists that have successfully created mirror image enzymes, called Spiegelzymes, which are made of nucleic acids. (Maybe there isn’t really a distinct line to separate proteins and nucleic acids, instead they can come together to perform a more important function in different organisms.) These enzymes can be used in living cells for the targeted cutting of natural nucleic acids, basically as molecular scissors. They are also very stable and, most importantly, do they do not trigger side reactions of the immune system. These nucleic acid zymes could cut up individual nucleic acids responsible for human diseases and thus deactivate them, which can be potentially incorporated in a drug to stop the spread of certain diseases!
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/looking-glass-nucleic-acid-zymes-promise-rna-editing-wonderland/81249442/