Take my prokaryote...please
Category: Just Plain Silly...
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 02:32 PM [GMT-6]

So Abbye and I were at the vet's office this morning, making our periodic contribution into his retirement account, when one of the young techs arrived, complaining about the early hour (it was 9:00 a.m.). I told her it was practically the middle of the day -- an observation she didn't appreciate -- and she replied that her molecular biology class wasn't too thrilling this morning.

My reply was as brilliant as it was instantaneous. "What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you find mitochondria to be energizing?"

That may well be the best comeback in the history of biological references. See, mitochondria are where oxidative phosphorylation takes place, providing energy at the cellular level. And so -- ah, well, never mind. You just had to be there.

I couldn't discern whether the tech's expression upon hearing my questions was one of awe or pity. I have my theories. But I'm glad my 2 1/2 years as a zoology major finally paid off.

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and for a brief moment I thought we were on track for a Googlewhack.

Posted by: Jon at March 21, 2007 05:05 PM

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a cellular biologist on the web nowadays.

Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2007 09:41 PM

This was my favorite part from the link you provided (and yes, I read the whole thing...it sure beats what I was doing)..."mitochondria are descended from free-living prokaryotes."

Oh, to be a free-living prokaryote again.

Posted by: Gwynne at March 21, 2007 09:46 PM

I guess that compared to private letter rulings, Wikipedia entries about sub-cellular componentry is absolutely scintillating. ;-)

Oh, to be a free-living prokaryote again.

You said a mouthful, sister.

Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2007 10:16 PM

There's something about that one sentence I just wrote that just look wrong.

Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2007 10:17 PM

Heh, yes, Wikipedia entries is scintillating.

But please explain this sentence...

"Eukaryotic organisms, such as humans, may be unicellular or multicellular."

I mean, I have known people that I have thought might be unicellular, but what does this really mean?

Posted by: Gwynne at March 21, 2007 11:01 PM

I'm pretty sure it means that Wikipedia's model of allowing folks like us to write entries is broken. ;-)

Seriously, though, I haven't the faintest idea what that means. Had I been a zoology major for three years, I probably would know. (But I probably also wouldn't be able to afford this computer I'm now using.)

Posted by: Eric at March 22, 2007 06:32 AM
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