Stereoselective amino acid synthesis by synergistic photoredox-pyridoxal radical biocatalysis. Science, 2023; 381 (6656): 444 DOI: 10.1126/science.adg2420 ...

After their success using cyanide to drive other chemical reactions, Krishnamurthy and his colleagues suspected that cyanide, even without enzymes, might also help turn α-keto acids into amino acids.

The reason: When you take essential amino acid supplements (also called "free-form amino acids “) they do not require digestion and will rapidly move from the stomach to the blood, he says.

Astronomers have discovered high amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid key in the formation of life, in a nearby star-forming region of space called the Perseus Molecular Complex.