Protonation by “Newton's cradle”: Biochemical Processes  by Philip Yeagle

Imagine raising the ball on one end of a Newton's cradle. Upon release and the subsequent collision, the ball at the other end of the device flips up in response. Using high-resolution neutron diffraction, Nakamura et al. discovered an enzymatic proton relay chain that may operate in much the same fashion. In a glycoside hydrolase from the mushroom Phanerocaete chrysosporium, protons are relayed along a structure created by the enzyme from a distant asparagine to the catalytic asparagine through sequential tautomerizations. 

for more discoveries in science this week visit http://www.sciencemag.org