Where Scientific Passion Begins

Do you know how I became passionate about science?

Well, of course not; chances are, I am a complete stranger to you, so please allow me to take you on my personal journey of scientific passion…

It all started with insects, believe it or not. I was about 10 years old when my grandparents gave me a book about insects. The descriptions were fascinating and the illustrations were mesmerizing. For a while, I absolutely could not put this book down (which for me at that time was very unusual). I remember picking up ants in my house and pointing out the head, the abdomen and the thorax to whoever happened to be in the vicinity. On one vacation, I found a number of very impressive stink bugs and I collected them for the purpose of presenting them to my extended family, where I would proudly point out their heads, abdomens and thoraxes as my “act” in the family talent show.

I know, this is a cute story of how a young boy loved insects, but isn’t it much easier to fascinate a child than a grown adult?

Answer: Yes, it is…

So how am I still passionate about science?

To me, science opens up a whole new world. As I continue to learn, I am able to perceive things on a progressively deeper level, and I have a growing understanding of many of the natural phenomena I observe every day. It really does give me a great appreciation for the ordinary!

I believe the human body is one of the most amazing things. If I take the most basic, and seemingly insignificant tissue of the body, the skin, I bet I can still fascinate you. Looking at skin, several questions may come to mind if you really think about it:

How is it durable enough to stay together despite being exposed to great tensions and forces?

Why does skin become darker in the sun?

How does skin regenerate even though we shed skin every day?

(My siblings always tease me for being fascinated by skin cells, so I want to take special time to justify this fascination to all of you!)

Lets answer the first question: “How is skin durable?” Skin cells contain an Intermediate Filament (IF) protein called keratin which takes the form of several long symmetrical “fibers”. They stretch from one end of the cell to the other, attaching to protein complexes called desmosome plaques which are embedded in the cell membrane. This network makes skin cells very sturdy and difficult to pull apart.

This answer shouldn’t satisfy you if you really understand the concept though (try to engage in the concept!).

Why?

Because even if individual skin cells are intrinsically very sturdy, you should still be able to easily pull them apart from each other. Imagine having a brick wall but without any cement sticking the bricks together. The individuals bricks are indeed strong, but you could still easily knock the wall down!

Where or what is the cement for skin cells?!

The answer is actually very simple; The desmosome plaques embedded in the cell membranes of skin cells bind to cadherin proteins. The cadherin proteins then bind to the adjacent desmosome, forming a continuous “fiber” laced through all of the skin cells in a tissue. Cell membranes are not very sturdy at all, so this keratin is integral in alleviating stress from the cell membrane.

You can think of this as a bunch of marshmallows (cells) with a bracelet string going through the center of all of them. Even though the marshmallows are very easily torn, if you now pull on the ends of the string, only the bracelet string will experience the tension while the marshmallows are completely unharmed. Amazing!

Why are IFs so strong though?

IFs strength actually comes from a similar principle to rope, as many smaller filaments are woven together.

The recognized subunits that make up IFs are polar protein dimers, which are formed from two long protein monomers twisting around each other. Then, another identical protein dimer binds antiparallel to this fist dimer (neutralizing the polarity) forming a protein tetramer. Finally, eight of these identical tetramers come together to form the actual IF with its tremendous strength.

It took considerably longer to answer that first question compared to what I had expected, so I think I will save the explanations of the other two questions until next entry. The other two answers are equally complex, and I want more time to fully explore them (and yes, there will be another entry in this series!).

I am Tim Wolf, a third year student at UBC, majoring in Nutritional Science and minoring in Biochemistry. I am extremely passionate about all things science, and I wanted to share with you the reasons behind my passion.

I learned recently that when you spend more time thinking about a certain subject matter, it improves your long term memory consolidation, and thus, improves your performance in academics. I have been passionate for a long time, and it is very natural to spend time thinking about what I am passionate about.

See the connection?

Passion leads to thinking, which leads to memory consolidation, which leads to academic success! I believe by following a certain mindset, almost anyone can become passionate about something they choose to which leads back to why I write this in the first place (apart from the pure enjoyment).

In applying what we learn to how we perceive the world, it imbues the material with significance or value. Value, in turn, leads to passion. I will discuss this more in the future too, but I hope it will make sense when you read more of the articles I write too!

This is an introduction to the type of writing I will continue to release (at the start of every month), exploring what may seem ordinary from a fresh scientific perspective. This entry involved much Biology, but be prepared to see deeper analysis in Chemistry too (and even Physics!).

See you then!