Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
(B&MB),
For the Week of November 8 - November 14, 2009
{Volume 22, Number 12}
Please send all E-correspondence (including requests to add or delete E-mail addresses) to bmoore@ufl.edu
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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Concentration Student Journal Club [BCH 6936],
Visitors welcome.
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 11:45 AM, Room R3-265, ARB.
Mr. Balendu Avvaru will present "Insights into the catalytic mechanism of human carbonic anhydrase II."
The journal club's web-site is : http://www.med.ufl.edu/biochem/BMBJournalClub/
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Weekly Faculty Research Discussion
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4:00 PM, Room R3-265, ARB.
There will be no meeting this week. The scheduled presentation has been postponed till further notice.
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Other Journal-Club Meeting Times (Visitors welcome):
--Methodologies and Discoveries in Crystallography and Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Agbandje-McKenna M, McKenna R): Mondays from 3:00 till 3:55, R3-265 ARB.
--Membrane Biology (
--Cytoskeletal Processes and Cell Motility (Purich DL, Dickinson RB): Thursdays, 9:35 till 10:25, R3-265 ARB.
--Epigenetics (Yang
TP, Kladde MP): Thursdays, noon till one, Room 351-A,
Cancer/Genetics Research Complex (CGRC), SW corner of
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ASTONISHING BIOCHEMYSTERIES! -- with your host, Dr. R. D. Allison.
In this weekly diversion, you are welcome to e-mail your answer/s to the "biochem-mysterious" question/s appearing below, to Mr. Moore (bmoore@ufl.edu), Dr. Allison's loyal assistant and amanuensis. If your answer is correct and not duplicated by very many other replies, Dr. Allison will credit you by name in our next edition.
Note: "Astonishing Biochemysteries!" does not decide wagers.
1. Why don't insects need hemoglobin, myoglobin, or even a circulatory system?
2. The ΔGº′ value for the hydrolysis of lactose is about -15 kJ/mol, so why is lactose stable even when milk is pasteurized.
3. Since the baseball season has finally ended, here is a question about throwing a baseball: since a baseball has a rough surface, the thrower (i.e, the "pitcher") is able to throw a ball that curves during its flight. You might expect that the pitcher would not be able to throw a curve using a smooth-surfaced ball, but he can indeed. However, that ball will curve in the opposite direction of the curve of a standard, rough-surfaced baseball. Can you explain why?
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Answers to Last Week's Biochemysteries:
1. Why doesn't a nerve impulse dampen out as it travels down an axon? Answer: Sodium ions, pouring into the nerve, diffuse ahead of the stimulus and trigger more depolarization.
2. In a centrifuge, denser objects move outward as the centrifuge is spinning. Why then do tea-leaves collect in the center of the cup when you stir your tea? Answer: Professor Stephen J. Hagen of UF Physics correctly noted that a pressure difference occurs between the tea-leaves nearer the wall of the cup and those leaves near the central acid. This difference produces a secondary flow, depositing leaves in the center of the cup.
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You may wish to read our "Disclaimer and Permitted Use" statement.
Disclaimer is posted at http://www.med.ufl.edu/about/disclaim.shtml
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--R. D. Allison, PhD / Nov. 6, 2009
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