College Biology Help: Understanding Proteins & Translation Processes

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Astronomer186
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Hi,

In my Medical Microbiology class, the prof introduced the process of translation during protein synthesis. For prokaryotes: 70S, eukaryotes: 80S. Just a question...I know that "S" is a unit, but what type of unit is it called? In other words, what does the "S" stand for? If anyone can tell me, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

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It is related to the size of the ribosomes in terms of protein subunits.

The S stands for Svedbergs. It is related to the sedimentation rate of the ribosomes in a centrifuge at high speed.

Hope that helps.