Synchrony Bio Factoids
Loligo Opalescens
Hey, I'm channeling my biologist fiance for a minute here to provide
you with some info about cryobiology...
Trehalose is the sugar they mentioned in the episode. As explained in
the episode, freezing ruptures cell membranes (also, dessication
collapses membranes). However, trehalose can stabilize membranes so
that they survive either freezing or drying.
One type of organism which uses trehalose this way are tardigrades,
mini invertebrates (less than 1 mm in size) that look kind of like
teddy bears, or eight-armed versions of the Michelin Man. They can
enter a state called cryptobiosis ("hidden life") in which they dry
right up and look like dust motes. They have been known to survive in
this state for at least 100 years. Soviet scientists claim that
tardigrades can survive in outer space like this, and some say you can
dunk them in liquid nitrogen without harming them.
All in all, a fit topic for the X-Files.
"Tardigrade worship -- is it wrong?"
-- teaser from The Fiance's summer inverts class
L.O.
(Sister EP, OBSSE)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8796/xindex.html
Helen Jost
Wasn't the compound a NEW sugar called cryolose (not trehalose). BTW
the chemical structure on the computer screen was nothing like a sugar
molecule. Oh well...
mma...@biomed.med.yale.edu
On Mon, 14 Apr 1997, Helen Jost wrote:
> Wasn't the compound a NEW sugar called cryolose (not trehalose). BTW
> the chemical structure on the computer screen was nothing like a sugar
> molecule. Oh well...
I don't have closed captioning, but Old Jason's pronounciation sounded
more like cryalose or triolose then trehalose. And it makes much more
sense in light of the episode. But what Old Jason actually tells the
Japanese researcher is that he solved the problem of vitrification (?)
"you found a way to substitute water with a sugar, cryalose". So, the
sugar isn't necessarily the catalyst.
It wouldn't make much sense if the sugar were a catalyst - chemically
speaking, that is. And like you said, the molecule on the screen was
certainly no sugar. But, the NMR spectrum (not spectra, Scully - spectra
is *plural*) could certainly have been a sugar.
Again, I think they screwed up. If the catalyst were responsible for safe
flash-freezing by catalyzing an extremely endothermic reaction that used
water (and other molecules, presumably, since you'd need a source of
carbon) to create the cryalose sugar (needed to prevent the cells from
being torn apart by the formation of ice crystals) then it makes sense.
And it would make sense that Scully would find massive amounts of this
sugar and it would be relatively easy to get an NMR spectrum of it. And
this would be sufficient evidence that something cryogenic was happening.
Instead, the ep claims that the spectrum is of the mythical catalyst - a
chemical compound, which, by definition, should only be present in minute
quantities. No way they're gonna get an NMR spectrum from that - you'd
probably have to grind up the entire policeman to get enough compound. And
you'd have to come up with a way to purify it - not exactly easy when
you're talking about such a small amount. When you add this to the fact
that the NMR spectrum was far too complex to be the spectrum of the
mythical compound shown on the computer screen, it all falls apart.
Something tells me that re-writes of the script really fucked up a good idea.
> >Loligo Opalescens wrote:
> >
> > Hey, I'm channeling my biologist fiance for a minute here to provide
> > you with some info about cryobiology...
> >
> > Trehalose is the sugar they mentioned in the episode. As explained in
> > the episode, freezing ruptures cell membranes (also, dessication
> > collapses membranes). However, trehalose can stabilize membranes so
> > that they survive either freezing or drying.
> >
> > One type of organism which uses trehalose this way are tardigrades,
> > mini invertebrates (less than 1 mm in size) that look kind of like
> > teddy bears, or eight-armed versions of the Michelin Man. They can
> > enter a state called cryptobiosis ("hidden life") in which they dry
> > right up and look like dust motes. They have been known to survive in
> > this state for at least 100 years. Soviet scientists claim that
> > tardigrades can survive in outer space like this, and some say you can
> > dunk them in liquid nitrogen without harming them.
> > All in all, a fit topic for the X-Files.
I dunno, you can drop a goldfish in liquid nitrogen, freeze it solid, put
'it back into its tank and it won't come to any harm. Does this mean that
goldfish are a fit topic for the X-Files?
Oh, yeah, and one more comment. If it was trehalose that the episode used,
then we've only got to look as far as the good old yeast to find an
organism that uses it.
Maeg
mma...@biomed.med.yale.edu
I don't know what was most disturbing; the descriptions of the inner-
core, reincarnated-souls sex orgy... or the fact that the whole thing
is written in screenplay format. - Jose Chung, X-Files
Maggie Helwig/Ken Simons
fea...@ibm.net (Loligo Opalescens) wrote:
>Hey, I'm channeling my biologist fiance for a minute here to provide
>you with some info about cryobiology...
[snip of entire post]
>"Tardigrade worship -- is it wrong?"
> -- teaser from The Fiance's summer inverts class
>L.O.
L.O./E.P. --
this is getting spooky. Not only do I agree with basically everything
you say on this conf, now I find out we both have tardigrade-obsessed
partners (which, let's face it, can't be _too_ common).
oh well, parallel lives, whatever ...
maggie h
Loligo Opalescens
mma...@BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU wrote:
>I dunno, you can drop a goldfish in liquid nitrogen, freeze it solid, put
>'it back into its tank and it won't come to any harm.
Bio Boy doesn't buy this, but he's open to convincing -- he doesn't
study vertebrates, after all. Got a citation for goldfish or other
vertebrates surviving this kind of experience? My physio textbook
says "No animal has been known to survive the complete freezing of its
tissue water". Various organisms can survive in a supercooled state,
but it's because they haven't actually frozen solid (for example, no
ice nuclei are present to start the crystallization process). So, by
what mechanism would said goldfish prevent the formation of
intra-cellular ice crystals?
(Not to be confrontational or anything -- but we're really curious!)
L.O.