The first person to correctly identify the New Years Eve mystery molecule was James Tyrwhitt-Drake. He was (very) quick to recognize Alcohol Dehydrogenase, an enzyme that converts alcohol (ethanol) into acetaldehyde in the liver and stomach lining, which, for many of us, is especially important on New Years Eve. Interestingly, some plants, bacteria, and yeast have Alcohol Dehydrogenases that do the opposite, and produce alcohol. A nifty trick which we exploit to make the beverages which we then consume and process with our own Alcohol Dehydrogenases. Ahh… the circle of life.

James will be receiving a signed 4″x6″ artist’s proof metal print of the Cas9 CRISPR complex from last June. By the way, if you like the images on this blog, you will love the stuff James posts on his blog, Infinity Imagined. You could (and should) spend the rest of the day trawling the archive of amazing images there. James also has a Youtube channel, here, and some incredible Gigapans, here. Go check them out!

Inside a Neuron by James Tyrwhitt-Drake. Zoom in with your scroll wheel. and in, and in and in some more…