The Great Mitochondrial Rebellion of 2006, Bikebushes, and the Blob that Ate Everything

Cell Biology today freaked me out to no end. Ever since I was little I've had a marked distrust for all biological functions that occur on a cellular level, but this class is steadily making it worse.

When I was seven or eight I was a big fan of the trilogy that begins with A Wrinkle in Time. The third book is what caused my fear of cellular function (similar to Nice causing my eye phobia, now that I think about it. And they say reading is good for you?). See, the little brother of the main character gets very sick because his mitochondria rebel.

Now, that may sound ridiculous to you, but if you think about that after you learn about the Endosymbiotic Theory, you begin to fear. Mitochondria are not actually part of us. They're completely separate organisms with their own DNA, and they replicate on their own, which means they're not being regulated by their host cells (us.) Fun fact: all your mitochondria came from your mother. So we have these little beasts living within us, producing the ATP we need to keep all our cells functional and thus keeping us alive, and they're not even being controlled by us! How the FUCK is that not scary?

It gets worse. I thought learning about metabolism was freaky. We have to carefully regulate all the reactions we perform to metabolize glucose, you know. Because if we didn't? We would COMBUST. So what if an enzyme goes crazy and kicks up a reaction when it's not supposed to? FWOOM.

But today! I learned that inside the mitochondria there's something called an Fo/F1 ATP synthase that is responsible for creating all the energy we need to run things right. And it does it by SPINNING a protein complex around and "hitting" two other complexes, which change their shape and end up catalyzing reactions because of it. That's right. In every mitochondria in every cell of your body, there is something that is meant to do nothing but run into other things and make stuff. And I can't feel it, or control it, and if I hadn't taken this class, I'd spend my entire life NOT KNOWING THIS.

On another random note, in chem today we were discussing sci-fi movies and why organic lifeforms can't be silicon-based instead of carbon-based. See, the bonds between silicon and hydrogen or silicon and itself are too weak to stand up to light photons, so exposure to light would cause it to desintegrate. (Pitch Black, anyone?)

He told us about this one movie he saw, tho, involving a huge amorphous blob that was eating stuff. Chemists were battling it by hurling bottles at it from the stock room, and finally they found one that dissolved the entire beast.

The female chemist picks up the remains of the vial and reads it. "My God! You used the ACETIC ACID!"

That, boys and girls, is a fancy name for vinegar, one of the weakest acids out there. Oh, how we laughed.

I also wore the Sir-Mix-A-Lot skirt around today. The weather was perfect when I put it on, but the second I walked out the door the wind was zipping EVERYWHERE and making me feel like a really bohemian Marilyn Monroe. I hate dealing with odd weather in skirts I don't trust. It also rained while it was sunny, and then hailed. This skirt is evil.

Finally, a conversation between me and Eri. It is necessary to click the link for the proper frame of reference.

No Understandy: Drugs are bad, okay? XD
No Understandy: You're gonna turn into a bikebush.
Eri: Being a bikebush sounds fun.
No Understandy: I hate you.
No Understandy: *laughs hysterically*
Eri: Like being a ninja. They would never see me coming.
Eri: Only assume it to be a harmless bush.
Eri: On a bike.
No Understandy: O.o; A bikebush would be quite noticaeable
Eri: I'd just stop moving when people looked, so they'd think it just a regular bush.
No Understandy: you're on a BIKE.
Eri: Maybe they'd interpret it as a bike STUCK in a bush.
No Understandy: ....no.
Eri: Damn
Eri: So, in other news, how goes the skirt experiment?
No Understandy: it went well, except for the hail.
Eri: hail?
No Understandy: Yes, it hailed.
Eri: Is this coincidence or was it somehow caused by the skirt?
No Understandy: I think it was caused by the skirt. The weather today has been unusual.
Eri: And here I was thinking the most it could do was stop traffic. To affect nature itself? A truly powerful artifact indeed.
No Understandy: I wonder what it does to bikebushes.
Eri: My guess would be engulfs them in flames.
No Understandy: Awesome, I can kick your habit.
Eri: You can try ^^
No Understandy: I'll just addict you to something better.
No Understandy: Like trees.
Eri: ...I'm not sure that'd work.
No Understandy: You haven't seen this skirt!

Sarah and I have dubbed the dire combination of me, Baron, and Eri the "Triumvirate of DUMB". This is a good example of why.