Definition
The effect of intrinsic differences in energy between biomolecular enantiomers due to the weak interactions mediated by neutral Z particles is known as parity-violating energy difference (PVED). Asymmetric enantiomer distribution in terrestrial biomolecules, with L-amino acids and D-sugars dominant, has been suggested to be the result of this effect. Calculations of the PVED between enantiomers of α-amino acids have suggested that the L-enantiomers are more stable than the D-enantiomers by an amount equivalent to 10−17–10−14 kT at room temperature. More recent calculations, however, have suggested that such conclusions may be ambiguous or erroneous, currently leaving both the direction and magnitude of the PVED an open question.
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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Takahashi, JI. (2015). PVED. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1311
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-44184-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-44185-5
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