Lipids

I love lipids. I love lipids in so many ways. For one, French fries. Without lipids a French fry would only ever be a baked potato wedge. Sure the oven can generate some tasty flavors but it can’t compare to plunging food of any kind into the transformative power of a hot vat of lipid.

Lipids are oils, fats, waxes and so much more, which brings up the other thing I love about lipids, their diversity. The same class of molecule that converts a wedge of potato into a culinary delight also encompasses the wax that builds up in your ears or the very membranes that contain all of the contents of our cells. 

Many think of lipids as a lazy molecule. Ok maybe not in those terms but play it out and you’ll see that you too may have accused lipids of lethargy. “The fat in our food makes us fat and …lazy.” “The wax in our ears just sits there, lazily inhibiting auditory abilities or at best just looking unsightly.”  “The lipid bilayer membrane is a passive ‘lazy’ barrier between the inside and outside of the cell.”

Are you hearing yourself voice these gross mischaracterizations of the noble lipid molecules? If so you should know that the fat in food is an incredibly nutrient dense storage system that prevents us from dying of starvation far after our own will to stave off laziness would put us in the grave. You’re starving to death? Not likely, thanks to lipids.

The wax in your ears is a barrier to prevent water and other undesirables from entering into the ear. Bacteria and fungus would have free rein on your eardrum and all of its other requisite ear bits if not for the fungiogermicidal properties of ear wax. Thanks for staving off frequent earaches lipids.  I really appreciate not moaning in agony throughout the night.

And the membranes. Far too long have proteins absorbed all of the credit for being the gatekeepers of the cell. Sure proteins play their part but like any toll attendee they exact a price. “Want entrance essential nutrient?” Says the transport protein, “Sure, no problem, after you pay the price in ATP! Mua hahahaha!” But without the lipids congregating around the protein the glory hog wouldn’t likely be in the right place. The lipids of the cellular membrane organize their cell, not by sapping it of some of its energy, but simply by obeying the laws of thermodynamics and self assembling in their lowest energy state. Thank you l for being the shoulders on which proteins have stood on in order that they could see a bit further and stand out in the crowd of the oft disparaged biological macromolecule; the humble, the noble, lipid.

Nucleic Acid

If proteins are like beads on a string nucleic acids are the pigments that give the beads their color and personality. Well, maybe that is a little too colorful to be helpful. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids and nucleic acids are long polymers with 3 basic parts; a sugar, a phosphate and a nitrogenous base. The sugar and phosphate make up the backbone of the molecule, linking through phosphodiester bonds. The coding section of the nucleic acid comes in the nitrogenous bases.  These are the ATCG or AUCG of DNA and RNA. (For more on coding visit a previous poston the topic).

Carbohydrates

Carbs get a bad rap these days. Sure it was worse about 5 years ago but there is still some residual animosity for these life essential molecules.  Biologically speaking carbs make up the bodies of bugs and birch trees (all other arthropods and plants too) in the form of chitin and cellulose. Carbs are in our stomach when we eat them and in our DNA when we, we… are. Carbohydrates are a part of us; they are necessary, not evil.

Protein

Proteins are like the origami of the natural world.  Like origami starts with a flat piece of paper a protein start with a straight sequence of amino acids. While the paper is folded by expert hands to take shape and develop a form or indicate a function the amino acids  are twisted and folded by the specific attractions and repulsions of the physical attributes of the sequence.  Hydrophiles face the aqueous environment of the cell while hydrogen, Van der Waals and ionic bonds twist and shape the protein towards its functional form.

What are you made of?

Protein, Carbohydrates, Nucleic Acids and Lipids.