Word: constructs
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...with similar functions--be they in insect, worm or man--often share structural characteristics that are reflected in the genes that encode them. Structural biologist Stephen Burley of Rockefeller University estimates that the maximum number of distinct shapes may be as few as 5,000. The NIGMS hopes to construct a lexicon of shapes--barrels, doughnuts, globular spheres, molecular zippers and so on--that when mixed and matched will spell the shape of any gene's product. About 1,000 of these structures--and the genes that code for them--have already been cataloged...
...device that cruises the human bloodstream, seeks out cholesterol deposits on vessel walls and disassembles them. Or one that takes grass clippings and remanufactures them into bread. Literally every physical object in the world, from computers to cheese, is made of molecules, and in principle a nanomachine could construct all of them...
...when we construct the nonbiological equivalents of human neuron clusters, we will almost certainly include built-in, quick-downloading ports. When one computer learns a skill or gains an insight, it will be able to share that wisdom immediately with billions of other machines...
...Although it's hardly a democracy, power in Syria is a complicated construct given the fact that the Assad clan, and most of its governing elite, are drawn from the ethnic Alawite minority rather than the Sunni Muslim majority, as well as the fact that the primary guarantor of power is not the electorate or even the ruling party, but the military, which propelled Hafez Assad to power in 1970 as a young air force officer at the head of a peaceful coup. Assad proved a masterful strategist, managing his country's internal power struggles, regional conflicts and the Cold...
...November 1998 The Undergraduate Council announces the "discovery" of $40,000 in a forgotten bank account. The oversight is blamed on poor account procedures in past. The council pledges to use $25,000 of the funds to construct a new student center, but the initiative lacks support among University Hall administrators...