The Miracle of Birth

There was no place more likely to extend a walk through visit into over an hour of standing and watching in anticipation than the Miracle of Birth building at the state fair.  As we walked in a new litter of pigs were on display and video of their birth was looping overhead.  Soon after a vet announced that a cow’s water had broken but that only meant there would be a birth in the next few hours.  

While looking at the pigs and chatting with one of the vet students attending the litter another student arrived to inform the fourth year that another sow was progressing and would be giving birth soon.  We naturally followed the action and within a few minutes had found a place at the front of a farrowing crate.  Around the same time the video screens changed to a live shot of the cow pen and a brief peak at an emerging hoof. At that point we never articulated it but we were stuck in that place until a new cow and some new pigs were in the room with us. 

The boys craned their necks to get a view, the youngest asking to climb whatever structure posed a barrier to his vision in order to inspect the events. In the end about 10 percent of our day at the fair was spent waiting, not for a ride or a free home depot bucket, but for a miracle, the miracle of birth, and it was worth it.

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.

Budding Biologists

The 8 year old performed a dissection in class today.  He recounted the procedures and the parts examined.  The subject was a grasshopper and prior to this morning he didn’t know what a dissection was.

The 12 year old is examining cell and tissue sample and is looking forward to a pig dissection later this month. But he still gets a kick out of seeing a pig on a leash as a pet. 

The 10 year old (tomorrow) spent some time online today learning about slope intersect equations and hours on the couch devouring books. Yet still for his birthday he wants a wood baseball bat “Just my size.”