WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:00.760 Get value. 2 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.120 You can't argue with at Tesco with their amazing club 3 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.200 card prices. Serve up something special with our finest meal 4 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:08.880 deal for two stirring one main, two sides and dessert 5 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.080 for only sixteen euro like succulent board, be approved Irish 6 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.400 eying the strip loin steaks with pepper corn butter or 7 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.039 delicious Firish chicken Parmesana served with creamy potato grit term 8 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.600 and her mix of rainbow root vegetables and enjoy Goozillionaire 9 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:24.960 or Salder caramel cheesecake. Can't argue with that shop in 10 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:26.160 store or online. 11 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:26.640 Tesco. 12 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:30.000 Every little helps available the most Doores prices very in express. 13 00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:32.920 You're on the bus an hour from home in bumper 14 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:36.200 to bumper traffic, creeping forward a few inches at a time, 15 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:42.119 someone's kids are screaming, and suddenly your back is too. Luckily, 16 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.920 Panadal extra film coated tablets are boosted by caffeine and 17 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.240 they get to work in as little as ten minutes 18 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:52.479 for powerful relief. That's more than just paracetamol. That's one 19 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.479 for Pana doll speed based on absorption data contains paracetamol. 20 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:57.960 Always read the label or leaflet. 21 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:02.600 Oh hey, it's the half a cookie you forgot you 22 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.879 saved from lunch ally ward, and we're here with asmologies episode. 23 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:08.560 If you don't know what somologies is. Smologies are shorter, 24 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.959 kid friendly episodes that we have cut together and put 25 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.439 out parental requests for some cleaner versions that they can 26 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:18.719 listen to with the whole fam So these are for 27 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.359 smologites for the small people in your life, or if 28 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:23.640 you've just got to listen to something shorter with a 29 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.359 wide audience who doesn't want to hear me swearing. Okay, 30 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.840 this episode is great. I loved it. Let's get right 31 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.519 into it. Molecular biology so molecule comes from the Latin 32 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:38.000 for mass or moles or extremely minute particle, and biology, 33 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.799 of course, is the study of life. So molecular biology 34 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.200 is the study of the little, itty, bitty, squiggly intricate 35 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.120 structures that keep us alive and breathing and finding off 36 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.239 illnesses and falling in love and digesting a pisa. So 37 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.120 molecular biology is how molecules interact with each other to 38 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.079 form life processes and how proteins do a lot of 39 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.599 our dirty work. This ologist has been an assistant professor 40 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.640 of biology and a Stem College coordinator for high school students, 41 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:12.039 has worked in a private lab researching cancer cures, and 42 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.360 has done a ted X talk and been recognized by 43 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.759 Fortunes forty under forty Now. I have been a fan 44 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:20.919 of hers for quite a while, so we hopped on 45 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:24.439 a call to talk about what a molecular biologist does, 46 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.360 the grossest parts of her lab work, protein folding, DNA strands, 47 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:35.080 and more with science communicator and molecular biologist, doctor Raven 48 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:50.919 the Science Maven Baxter. Knowlogies, ALOGI pology. 49 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:59.639 Knowledge is Raven Baxter and my pronouns are she her. 50 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.360 You're not the only Raven Baxter that people may have 51 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:05.479 heard of. Such a good. 52 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:09.360 Name, you know, and I loved having it until the 53 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.479 Disney Channel came in and just decided they were going 54 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:13.800 to do do their own thing. 55 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.879 I think a lot of people think of you as 56 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.400 Raven the Science Maven Like a lot of times, I 57 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.680 don't even think about you having a last name. I 58 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:26.039 just think of you as Raven the Science may Ben. 59 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:28.840 Have you always been kind of science minded? 60 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:33.400 Absolutely? Quite often I would find that I just get 61 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:37.520 drawn to the natural environment and looking at the clouds 62 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.479 or digging in the dirt things that kids do, you know, 63 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.800 But I was very I feel like I engaged in 64 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.960 scientific inquiry from a very young age. When I went 65 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.280 to college, I had tried different majors out and as 66 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:57.560 I transitioned in my academic journey, found genetics and was 67 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:01.280 so thrilled to learn that our bodies are so cool 68 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.280 that they speak their own language, which is the genetic code. 69 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.240 And I'm sitting in this class like, oh my gosh, 70 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:09.400 you know, none of my friends are in this class. 71 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.599 They have to they have to learn about this. This 72 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:14.680 is so cool. Our bodies are speaking a language, and 73 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:17.800 and like we're the only ones that are taking a 74 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.519 class on it, right, So like, not only did I 75 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.560 think it was super cool, but I wanted to share 76 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.800 that with everyone that I knew. But I just went 77 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:28.439 down that rabbit hole of genetics and molecular biology and 78 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.319 I never came out. So the language is our DNA, 79 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:38.040 the genetic code, and it is a sequence of nucleotides 80 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:44.040 that contain instructions for proteins. Yes, and those proteins are 81 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.000 doing the work inside of ourselves to generate our life processes. 82 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.480 So the way that I like to see it is 83 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:55.600 just a scale bound version of how cities work, where 84 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:58.800 you have the mayor, you know, and he's at city hall, 85 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.240 and that's that's off than like the central point of 86 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.800 a city. And the mayor has like his staff that 87 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:09.199 he talks to and you know, he tells so and 88 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:11.079 so to do this, and then they go do that. 89 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.439 So it tells another person to do another thing, and 90 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:17.600 they go do that job. And everything that happens out 91 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.399 from city hall affects the entire city. And that's how 92 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.160 I think about molecular biology. It's a super simplified version 93 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.519 of it. And where your DNA is, the mayor and 94 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.600 the mayor's staff are like proteins that are carrying out 95 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:33.560 different functions. 96 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.600 Oh, that's amazing. They look, from what I've seen, kind 97 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.839 of like gift wrap. Right, are there a lot of 98 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.639 spirals happening? What are these proteins shaped like? 99 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:49.639 Ah, that's hilarious. So proteins. Proteins are really interesting. They 100 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:53.319 have different shapes and sizes. They fold into these different 101 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.120 shapes that determine their functions. But they don't start folded. 102 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:00.439 Okay, let's back up a little. 103 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.399 We can just start from the beginning. Right, we have 104 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:11.079 our DNA, which is inside of our nucleus, and it's 105 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:16.040 very neatly packaged in the nucleus, and it gets read 106 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.720 by other proteins right inside of your nucleus into a 107 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.959 different code called RNA, which is almost the same as DNA, 108 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.920 but it uses a slightly different code. And then the 109 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:36.720 RNA is read by proteins called polymerases, and the polymerases 110 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:42.720 then translate the information from your RNA to create a protein. 111 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:47.319 As the protein's being made, it's basically like a spaghetti 112 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:51.600 noodle as it comes out of this polymerase, and then 113 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:55.120 as it's coming out, it folds into these different shapes. 114 00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:00.199 But the two basic shapes are beta sheets, which kind 115 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:06.560 of look like a brick of ramen noodles, or alpha helices, 116 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:10.480 which are those curly pieces that look like, I don't know, 117 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:14.879 RIGATONI actually don't know, is RIGATONI even the curly one? 118 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.199 Oh no, it's few, silly, few silly, Okay, you're. 119 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:22.439 Right, Okay, So then they're in those two different beta 120 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.800 or alpha helix shapes, and then what do they do 121 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:27.519 from there? 122 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.639 From there, all of these shapes and structures are determined 123 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:38.839 by the protein's amino acid composition, and so depending on 124 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.040 the composition of the protein itself, it'll fold and shape 125 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.759 into different levels of protein folding. So there's primary structure, 126 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:54.279 secondary structure, tertiary structure, and quaternary structure. 127 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.360 And those different proteins, the complicated ones or the simpler ones, 128 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:04.920 are they bouncing around in our bloodstream to send messages 129 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:09.439 or are they packaged to form different organelles and different 130 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:15.199 organs like what happens to those curly folded, very specific proteins. 131 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.600 I mean, they do so many different things. Where do 132 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:26.120 we even start. They get packaged in the golgi apparatus 133 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.839 and shipped out to different parts of the cells. One 134 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.839 place where they can go is they can get packaged 135 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.720 out in a vesicle, which is basically just a little 136 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.320 you can call it, maybe like a little fat bubble, 137 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.200 you know. The proteins can get packaged into vesicles and 138 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:47.639 sent to the cell membrane where they can release proteins 139 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:52.240 out into the extracellular environment or present the proteins onto 140 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:53.200 the cell surface. 141 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:57.240 Okay, so right now, no matter what you're doing, there 142 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:02.039 are tiny proteins cruising around your cytosol, which is the 143 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:05.559 ooze that makes up the cytoplasm in your cells, and 144 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.639 a gold gee apparatus is sorting some of them and 145 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:10.879 just popping them into fat envelopes. And you just have 146 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:15.320 no idea how hard they're working in trillions of tiny factories, 147 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:19.559 just attaching labels to things and passing chemical notes back 148 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:23.440 and forth like two teenage lovers in an after school detention. 149 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:29.879 So cells use molecules to communicate, for example, there are 150 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:34.600 certain cell pathways that cause cancer, or there's certain cell 151 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.120 pathways that we can study to risk, to understand, like 152 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.720 cellular responses to immunity, things like that. 153 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:49.240 And now you have worked in cancer research, You've worked 154 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:53.759 around big vats of E. Coli. You have done some 155 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:58.200 really awesome work. What was it like studying this, getting 156 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.919 your masters and then studying this on a corporate level? 157 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.080 What types of things were you looking at? How does 158 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:07.879 the molecular biologist do their work. Do you need like 159 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:12.440 the most gargantuan microscopes to look at these curly cue 160 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:13.159 proteins out? 161 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.960 Yeah, you do really Okay. The kind of work that 162 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.440 I was doing looked a lot different. Almost on a 163 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:24.919 weekly basis or monthly basis. I was doing cell transfections, 164 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:30.320 which is a fancy word for running experiments to insert 165 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:37.960 DNA into cells, or I was doing crisper projects, or 166 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:42.960 I was trying to generate a new cell line that 167 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:47.480 expresses a particular protein that we're interested in, or isolating 168 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:51.440 DNA from bacteria by the gallons, which is why I 169 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:54.279 had to make, you know, basically gallons of poop, like 170 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:57.919 you just said, because I was using E. Coli as 171 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:02.840 an expression post for the DNA and had to get 172 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:06.360 the DNA out of them. And it was really interesting, 173 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:09.120 you know. I was working with different types of cell lines, 174 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:12.799 breast cancer cell lines, skin cancer cell lines, and even 175 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.159 neuronal cell lines, which is really cool. I did some 176 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:23.279 work on trying to understand or find the best drugs 177 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:28.240 to treat Parkinson's disease or brain diseases like Alzheimer's as well, 178 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.200 and that involves some really interesting and fun work using 179 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:32.840 neuronal cells. 180 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.879 Neuronal cells side note, are types of neurons in the brain. 181 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.840 And now, when we think of a neuron, you might 182 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:42.279 picture like a kind of hand at the end of 183 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.559 a long arm that has a bulbous other end, or 184 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.320 maybe it looks like a tree, hence the word dendrite 185 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:52.159 from its root tree. But some research estimates there may 186 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.639 be up to a thousand different types of the cells 187 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.879 in our nervous system, depending on their structure and function 188 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:03.360 or location. So okay, what my point is, our brains 189 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.639 don't know everything about our brains, and studying our brains 190 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:12.399 with our brains requires machines devised by our brains to 191 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:16.440 study themselves, which is creepy and also not cheap. 192 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.360 The equipment that we use can is often very expensive. 193 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.000 I had the pleasure of working with a super cool 194 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.759 machine called the Perkin Elmer Opera I think it's. 195 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:32.559 Called introducing the Opera Phoenix high Content screening system from 196 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:37.399 Perkin Elmer. For the speed and sensitivity you need no compromise. 197 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:43.279 It was super cool because it's a high content screening system. 198 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:47.759 So we were able to test hundreds and thousands of 199 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:51.840 drug compounds on different cell lines to find out, you know, 200 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.919 what drugs work the best against a certain type of cancer, 201 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.519 and then we would formulate the drug. 202 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.120 And so you're just like low key care and cancer 203 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:04.559 when you go into work. So how it gets done, right. 204 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.639 Yeah, that's the very beginning part of it. Like when 205 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:11.240 you talk about clinical trials, that's where it starts with 206 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:15.000 the molecular biologists trying to find what drugs you should 207 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:16.879 even be looking at in the first place. 208 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:21.440 I have so many questions from patrons. Can I just 209 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:26.120 lob some at you? Ooh yes, okay, But before we 210 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.120 pepper her with curiosities, we will of course donate to 211 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:31.759 a cause of the ologists choosing. And Raven said she 212 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:33.759 didn't have a preference, She just like the money to 213 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:36.519 go to whomever needs it. And as it happened, our 214 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.799 mutual buddy Hank Green's Project for Awesome happened to be 215 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.679 at the final couple of seconds as they reached the 216 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.279 two million dollar mark, so we made a donation in 217 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:48.399 Raven's name. Project for Awesome is a project of the 218 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.879 Foundation to decrease World Suck, and you can learn more 219 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.279 about them at projectfoawesome dot com. And that donation was 220 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.200 made possible by sponsors of the show, whom I shall 221 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.000 now yammer about very briefly. 222 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.000 Get value you can't argue with at Tesco with their 223 00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.879 amazing cloak card prices. Have the perfect night in with 224 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.000 their finest frozen pizza meal deal. Get the finest frozen pizza, 225 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.879 chips and ice cream all for six euro Like our 226 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:16.080 delicious spicy salami, hot honey, and do you or Margarito 227 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:19.279 wood fired pizzas served up with their crispy chunkie chips 228 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.519 and ice cream like sea salta caramel or pistatio for dessert. 229 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.360 Can't argue with that shop in store or online tesco. 230 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.159 Every little helps available in most stories, Prices varying. Express. 231 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.159 You're on the bus an hour from home, in bumper 232 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.440 to bumper traffic, creeping forward a few inches at a time, 233 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:43.360 someone's kids are screaming, and suddenly your back is too. Luckily, 234 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:47.159 Panadal extra film coated tablets are boosted by caffeine and 235 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.480 they get to work in as little as ten minutes 236 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:53.639 for powerful relief. That's more than just paracetamol. That's one 237 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.679 for Pana doll speed based on absorption data contains paracetamol. 238 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:59.200 Always read the label or leaflet. 239 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:06.519 Bantoma got boga the hatanir, the hola, the Cayman he 240 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:11.919 call ah ers, where as lance la Dani detained nudovshu 241 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:17.840 willarhu la hula shomparod and lance is phaser lat Gan's 242 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:25.519 throw Tasha tapa seraanashka aga is FuGO more h i 243 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:29.879 a punk ie is called on tudoros or raslanse if 244 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.240 we real this Naharan. 245 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.360 Okay, you had questions for raven. A lot of folks 246 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:40.720 had questions, including Brendan Butler and Ashley Emmanuel. Is the 247 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.519 mitochondria actually the powerhouse of the cell? What is the 248 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:45.440 mitochondria doing? 249 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:57.480 So yeah, it definitely is the mitochandria of you eu 250 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:04.600 carriotic cells, meaning not bacteria basically, And what mitochondria do 251 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.799 is they break down sugars and turn them into energy. 252 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:15.600 It's almost like something that breaks down gasoline in our car. 253 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.039 Honestly, yeah, it's pretty much. 254 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.759 Okay, I look this up and wouldn't you know it. 255 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.320 Molecular biology happens to be a little bit more complicated 256 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.240 than a Honda Civic engine, but still mitochondria do sort 257 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:35.840 of burn our food fuel and produce a source of energy. 258 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.240 This whole process is called oxidative phosphorylation, and it does 259 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.639 require oxygen, just like a combustion engine. Also, there can 260 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.039 be a bunch of mitochondria shoved into one cell. Your 261 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:50.200 hard working heart muscles right now are really jam packed 262 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:54.440 with mitochondria. So, yes, mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. 263 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:58.279 It is useful information to know if you're into breathing 264 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.120 and being alive and stuff. Now, as long as we 265 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:06.640 are gossiping about spiral structures, let's get into the heroic helix, 266 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:11.039 shall we. Keanu Spinelli asks, I was told several times 267 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.079 when I was younger that there were six plus feet 268 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.119 of a DNA strand in just one cell. Is this 269 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:17.720 true or is that flim flam? 270 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.079 Oh my gosh. So I don't know the exact answer 271 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:24.559 to this, but I would not be surprised because DNA 272 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:29.680 is super coiled inside of your nucleus. I mean, it's 273 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:33.039 it doesn't just hang out in there like spaghetti. It's 274 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.160 wrapped around itself. It's wrapped around things called his stones, 275 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:40.480 and it's very tightly and neatly packaged inside of your nucleus. 276 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:42.480 So I wouldn't be surprised if you stretched it all 277 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.599 out that it did that it did end up being 278 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.480 six feet or six and a half feet. 279 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.799 Okay, I was so curious. I had to double check this, 280 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.640 and geneticist doctor Barry Starr does confirm that it's about 281 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:58.240 six feet or two meters of DNA strands inside each cell, 282 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.440 and then he calculated that each human being has around 283 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:08.079 ten billion miles of DNA in them, meaning that your DNA, 284 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:11.079 your DNA right now, just as you're sitting here eating 285 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.680 pirate's booty or whatever, your DNA could stretch to the 286 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:20.920 sun and back. Sucks. What you beautiful freak, You just 287 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:26.079 living pooping work of magic, all of us. A few 288 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.480 people asked about motor proteins. Honey wants to know. Can 289 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:32.480 you tell us about motor proteins? How the heck do 290 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:32.880 they work? 291 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:41.240 They carry cargo, basically the cargo that are containing molecules, proteins, 292 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.160 whatever it could be. Anything it could be. They could 293 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:50.680 be carrying organelles. They can carry different structures within the cell. 294 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:55.920 They can move chromosomes. They're just they're working hard. Okay, 295 00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:01.440 they're working hard, and they move in particular ways. Think 296 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.559 of this as a highway, and one end of the 297 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:08.640 highway is a negative side and the other side is positive. 298 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:15.079 Dining walks towards the negative end, and they're carrying their 299 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:22.200 cargo from the peripheral side of the cell to the 300 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:27.079 center of the cell. And then Keynesen is like Dinine's sister, 301 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:33.200 and they are walking in the opposite direction. So they're 302 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.319 walking towards the positive side, and they carry their cargo 303 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:40.039 from the center of the cell to the periphery of 304 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:42.440 the cell. So in order to move their little feet 305 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.599 they use ATP, which is the energy currency of the cell, 306 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:49.839 which comes from the mitochondria. So now we've come full 307 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:54.039 circle back to the mitochondria. They're going so fast. 308 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:58.319 John Sanson has a question about where did DNA even 309 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.559 come from, Like how did random bits of atoms and 310 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:04.119 molecules know to build themselves into proteins and then assemble 311 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.960 into DNA strands which now tell other things to build 312 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:08.160 other DNA strands. 313 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:13.240 This is something that I think about too much and 314 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:17.519 it freaks me out. My brain is melting. But that's 315 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:20.880 look great. That's a question about the origin of life 316 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:26.799 because all living organisms on Earth use DNA to generate 317 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:32.000 their life process, and we don't necessarily know exactly how 318 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.319 this all started, and this will be a question that 319 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:38.440 we're we are likely trying to answer for many many 320 00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:41.359 years to come. But I love thinking about it because 321 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:42.640 of all the possibilities. 322 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.920 So for years, the hypothesis has been that DNA started 323 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:50.440 with the simpler single strand RNA, but in the past 324 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:54.359 decade or so, other scientists are just begging to differ 325 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:57.599 and say that DNA, which kind of has a trickier 326 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.359 sugar molecule as well as that double helix shape, could 327 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:04.480 have arisen at the same time. It's even possible that 328 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:08.880 a hybrid RNA DNA molecule first arose and then split 329 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.640 off into two forms. Who's to know? If you have 330 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.240 a time machine, let us know now. One thing we 331 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.240 are sure about is that these replicated codes have been 332 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.039 encased in cellular goo and structures for billions of years, 333 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:25.799 billions with a b okay a few people, Katrina NuGen, 334 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:35.359 Adele Mison, Vie Francis, Davis Bourne, epigenetics, what's going on? 335 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:38.119 How does it change DNA expression and pass it on 336 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:41.359 to the next generation? Katrina ask will my children have 337 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.160 my same weird quirks and habits? 338 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:46.519 This is really interesting and something that I wish I 339 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:49.480 had spent more time on when I was on my 340 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:54.839 genetics cake. But epigenetics, it's a part of molecular bio 341 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:59.119 that's looking at heredity, but not heredity that's caused by 342 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.599 actual alterations in DNA itself. Right, the DNA has a code, 343 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:13.240 and that set of code again codes for proteins and 344 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:21.680 protein products. But epigenetics it's like they are changes on 345 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.519 the DNA, like literally on it. But it's really cool. 346 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.680 It's a different way of looking at heredity. 347 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.920 So for a very very quick primer on epigenetics, your 348 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.880 DNA is a big old long code, kind of like 349 00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:39.279 a recipe or an ingredients list, and that double helix 350 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:42.400 is like a big old long scroll, just meters of 351 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.680 it right in each cell. So how does a cell 352 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.559 with all the instructions for all the other cells know 353 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:53.680 to be a heart cell or groamy one, bristly mustache hair, 354 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:57.559 or line my guts. So certain genes are turned on 355 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:01.200 or off by signals or even protein according to the 356 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.160 function of the cell. But the proteins can also turn 357 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:07.440 on and off other expressions of the cell in response 358 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:11.440 to environmental factors and then replicate from there, and that 359 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:15.519 is called your epigenome. Now, speaking of hearts, many patrons 360 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.000 wanted to know what was closest to Ravens and Katie 361 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.799 matt Sicado, Earl of Gramulkin, Kathleen Sachs, Ira Gray, and 362 00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:26.599 Ashley Emmanuel all had favorite questions essentially favorite type of 363 00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:31.920 cell or protein or organelle or nitrogenous base, just normal 364 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:35.160 questions you'd ask, really any celeb. George Powell wants to note, 365 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:37.000 what's your favorite protein? 366 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:41.279 Oh, you know what, that's a really good question. I 367 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:48.200 personally am fascinated by how people name proteins. There is 368 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.000 a protein called the pokemon protein. 369 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:52.599 What. 370 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:58.640 Yeah, There's a protein called sonic hedgehog, which is actually 371 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:06.839 a critical involved in human development. And there's a Nemo one. 372 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:11.279 There's a Cannon Barbie protein. There's scramble ace, which is 373 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:16.480 an enzyme that scrambles fosphil lipids between the inside and 374 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:21.319 the outside of this a cell membrane. There's pikachuran protein. 375 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:28.200 There's spock one that's in zebrafish and it causes the 376 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.519 fish to develop like pointy ears like spock. 377 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:35.359 No, yeah, I mean earl of Gramblekin asked do you 378 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:38.240 have a favorite protein or protein name? And I had 379 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:42.680 no idea why. They asked about the name. Who gets 380 00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:43.519 to name these? 381 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.240 The scientists that discover them get to name them? 382 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.480 Oh my gosh, a lot of animation fans apparently. 383 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:55.559 Yeah, yeah, I mean they these these are they're really funny. 384 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:57.839 And what about the thing you love the most about 385 00:24:57.880 --> 00:24:58.160 what you do? 386 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:04.559 I truly love building community, and I think that because 387 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:10.039 I am who I am, I tend to build communities 388 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:13.640 that are very diverse because I show a lot of 389 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:17.960 different sides of myself that I feel like people from 390 00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:20.839 different walks of life and different backgrounds can relate to. 391 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.480 And I try to be very transparent about who I 392 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:27.079 am and what I'm interested in and what I'm passionate about, 393 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:32.960 so that people who even aren't in science can latch 394 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:37.519 onto something about a scientist that they see and maybe 395 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.359 be more willing to listen and learn about science because 396 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.799 they do relate. And I also love bringing these communities 397 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:50.839 together in conversations about important things and watching people in 398 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:54.039 my community learn from each other and teach each other. 399 00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:57.599 That's probably the best thing that I enjoy about what 400 00:25:57.640 --> 00:25:57.839 I do. 401 00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:03.119