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protonation

(Encyclopedia)protonation prōˈtənāˌshən [key], in chemistry, addition of a proton to an atom, molecule, or ion. The proton is the nucleus of the hydrogen atom; the positive hydrogen ion, H+, consists of a sin...

Wilkins, Maurice Hugh Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Wilkins, Maurice Hugh Frederick, 1916–2004, British biophysicist, b. New Zealand, Ph.D. Univ. of Birmingham, 1940. He conducted research at the Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland, and at Kings College, ...

phosphoric acid

(Encyclopedia)phosphoric acid, any one of three chemical compounds made up of phosphorus, oxygen, and hydrogen (see acids and bases). The most common, orthophosphoric acid, H3PO4, is usually simply called phosphori...

cresol

(Encyclopedia)cresol krēˈsōl [key], CH3C6H4OH, any one of three aromatic alcohols present in coal tar. The three compounds are structural isomers; they may be thought of as hydroxy derivatives of toluene or as m...

Gaucher's disease

(Encyclopedia)Gaucher's disease gōshāzˈ [key], rare genetic disease involving a deficiency of an enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, which normally breaks down certain body glycolipids (i.e., lipids (fats) that have a s...

xylene

(Encyclopedia)xylene dīˌmĕthəlbĕnˈzēn [key], C6H4(CH3)2, colorless, oily, liquid aromatic hydrocarbon, used extensively as a solvent, obtained from coal tar, wood tar, and sometimes from petroleum. It is a m...

Steitz, Thomas Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Steitz, Thomas Arthur, 1940–2018, American biophysicist and biochemist, b. Milwaukee, Ph.D. Harvard, 1966. Steitz was a professor at Yale from 1970 and a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Inst...

Barton, Derek H. R.

(Encyclopedia)Barton, Derek H. R., 1918–98, British chemist, b. Gravesend, England, grad. Imperial College of Science and Technology (B.S. 1940, Ph.D. 1942, D.Sc. 1949). He was on the faculty of Imperial College ...

hydrate

(Encyclopedia)hydrate hīˈdrāt [key], chemical compound that contains water. A common hydrate is the familiar blue vitriol, a crystalline form of cupric sulfate. Chemically, it is cupric sulfate pentahydrate, CuS...

membrane

(Encyclopedia)membrane, structure composed mostly of lipid and protein that forms the external boundary of cells and of major structures within cells. Membrane organization is based on a sheet two molecules thick�...