We report a realization of an associative memory signal/information processing system based on simple enzyme-catalyzed biochemical reactions. Optically detected chemical output is always obtained in response to the triggering input, but the system can also "learn" by association, to later respond to the second input if it is initially applied in combination with the triggering input as the "tra...

Cucurbit[7[uril, the wheel component in two new and structurally simple pseudorotaxanes, shuttles between the two axle termini at low pH, whereas the shuttling motion stops at higher pH, as the wheel is bound to the center of the axle.

An overview of the use of immobilized enzymes in flow-injection analysis (FIA) is presented. The joint use of FIA and immobilized enzymes means that analytical procedures are easily automated, analytical costs are reduced and methods are faster. The future possibilities for this combination are discussed.

A popular theory of life's origins states that the first biocatalysts were not made of protein but were made of RNA or a very similar polymer. Experiments are beginning to confirm that the catalytic abilities of RNA are compatible with this 'RNA world' hypothesis. For example, RNA can synthesize short fragments of RNA in a template-directed fashion and promote formation of peptide, ester and gl...