Natural selection generally produces specific and efficient enzymes. In contrast, directed evolution experiments usually produce enzyme variants with broadened substrate specificity or enhanced catalytic promiscuity. Some proteins may be more evolvable than others, but few workers consider this problem when choosing starting points for laboratory evolution. Here, we review the variables associa...

Whereas young persons of either sex may be brought to the juvenile courts for suspected promiscuity, in practice it is mainly girls over whom legal control may be sought on this account (West, 1967). Promiscuity, sexually-transmitted disease, and pregnancy, are of common occurrence among girl delinquents (Epps, 1951; Keighley, 1957; 1963) but endeavours to ensure effective medical care have bee...

Compound promiscuity is rationalized as the specific interaction of a small molecule with multiple biological targets (as opposed to non-specific binding events) and represents the molecular basis of polypharmacology, an emerging theme in drug discovery and chemical biology. This concise review focuses on recent studies that have provided a detailed picture of the degree of promiscuity among di...

Polypharmacology is becoming an increasingly important aspect in drug design. Pharmaceutical companies are discovering more and more cases in which multiple drugs bind to a given target (promiscuous targets) and in which a given drug binds to more than one target (promiscuous ligands). These phenomena are clearly of great importance when considering drug side-effects. In the last 4 years, more ...

A referential communication task conducted with five pairs of native speakers of Yucatec Maya produced evidence of “referential promiscuity” in the selection among spatial frames of reference (FoRs): speakers switched freely between FoRs and pervasively combined multiple types in single descriptions. In contrast, a recall memory experiment conducted with 18 speakers revealed a strong bias towar...

A study (n = 411) investigated the relationship between chronic individual differences in germ aversion and sociosexual attitudes (short-term mating orientation, long-term mating orientation, and anticipated future sexual promiscuity), and also tested whether the magnitudes of these relations differ depending on the temporary perceptual salience of disease threat. Results revealed person-by-sit...

Many genes are toxic when overexpressed, but general mechanisms for this toxicity have proven elusive. Vavouri et al. (2009) find that intrinsic protein disorder and promiscuous molecular interactions are strong determinants of dosage sensitivity, explaining in part the toxicity of dosage-sensitive oncogenes in mice and humans.