Yesterday, my organic chemistry professor put this up on the screen and said: Can anyone tell me the name of this molecule?
After a while of complete silence, he identified it as Acetyl CoA (and as a Biology major, I bowed my head in shame). Even though I've drawn plenty of biochemical structures including DNA, ATP, and all that good stuff, my professors never required that we draw this structure (and now I see why). It took me about a good minute to even copy it down.
In case you aren't familiar with Acetyl CoA, this molecule is integral to all animal life. Perhaps its most well-known role is within a series of cellular reactions collectively known as cellular respiration. In simple terms, this molecule is partially the reason why we have to breathe and why burgers can deliver tons of energy to our bodies.
The thing that the professor was explaining to us briefly is that this molecule has to be reactive enough to take part in cellular respiration, but not too reactive or else it would react with the tons of water in our bodies and break up into little pieces.
In other words, it had to be perfect from the start for life to even survive. What are the odds that it happened entirely by chance, rather than by meticulous design?
