opening the box - inside the notebook (diagrams)

chemgirl · Post by **chemgirl** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:15 am

Finally something I can help with.

Alright.. so I'm a chemistry major and I'm fairly confident I can help explain what the diagrams mean to those of you who may not be scientifically inclined.

HOWEVER, the diagrams are a bit blurry. I was able to isolate the image but the information is still not very clear for me. It's all important... even a single bond (line) could change the entire thing... If someone out there knows how to make the images clearer, or better yet, re-draw them so that they are clear, it'd be helpful.

I'm also a bit curious as to what it says on the first page that Daniel flipped past, but first things first.

Gidget · Post by **Gidget** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:24 am

I can try and get you some better screen shots of those pages. Im working on it now.

As far as the page before it goes, this was the best I could do:

The only thing I can read for sure is "Iron Supplement B" (or 13) I cant tell if thats a B or a 13. Does that mean anything?

sorno · Post by **sorno** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:40 am

Here it is:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_8IdXrytstkc/Rlz ... 7+copy.jpg

Gidget · Post by **Gidget** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:45 am

yeah, thats a better diagram then the screenshot I got. Thanks Sorno!

I posted it as an embedded image to make it easier

chemgirl · Post by **chemgirl** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:46 am

I'm not the best at Bio, but I'll do my best

Not sure what the 21 refers to.

CellCount... it's probably either referring to White Blood Cell Count or Red Blood Cell Count.. looks like a W to me.

So I'll just further Daniel's summation of what traits are...
Alright so I'm sure everyone already knows that a trait is basically a characteristic of an individual..

However that needs to be passed down...

I don't think you want me to go into too much detail, so I'll try to keep it simple and get you familiar with the definition.

- Chromosomes carry genetic information in the nucleus of a cell.

- A gene is a part of a chromosome that basically passes on the particular trait.

Basically Bree's "condition" is either hereditary (passed on from her biological parents) or it's a genetic mutation. Mutations can either be positive, negative, or neutral. HoO is obviously seeing this as a positive mutation.

chemgirl · Post by **chemgirl** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:48 am

Thanks sorno!
It's beautiful.
I'll work on this

Libra · Post by **Libra** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:49 am

It's a diagram of exactly how the Ribozyme that Bree has works to cut DNA. That's what the diagram is showing. It cuts at the phosphate bond of the DNA.

It's biochemistry ><

For those who have no knowledge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transesterification
http://www.scripps.edu/mb/millar/research/hairpin.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairpin_ribozyme

The hairpin ribozyme has been identified in only 3 plant satellite RNAs
-Tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV)
-chicory yellow mottle virus (CYMV)
-arabis mosaic virus (ARMV)

Bree's DNA has been genetically altered?

kellylen · Post by **kellylen** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:47 am

biochemistry = </3

but I'll open my book and help you guys look.

I'm fairly certain that the 21 refers to the 21 chromosomes... not including x or y

Dsrtnomad · Post by **Dsrtnomad** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:55 am

Figured out most of the text stuff in the video thread.

The bottom text starts out with

"DAY 2:
RIBOZYMES
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT
IRON SUPPLEMENTS"

the stuff in the top section is still fuzzy.

below the fingers it looks like:
...."DESIGN STUDY OF EPOGEN: -- WHY?
-- EFFECTS?
-- TRAIT REVERSAL?
-- " and the last one looks illegible.
it could be "SERINE?" or it could be "SERUM?"

at the top of the page, the last of the top line almost looks like WIZARDS OF VISION but that would make no sense. The last word could be VITAMIN as well, which would make sense (but not wizards.. it's after midnight and I need to get up at 6am tomorrow).

chershaytoute · Post by **chershaytoute** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:58 am

Okay, I never went past fruit flies in Biology, pretty much, and I actually managed to blow up the Chem lab...and that was decades back. Are y'all saying Bree's part plant? <purely and totally confused look>

yepooda · Post by **yepooda** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:03 am

chershaytoute wrote: Are y'all saying Bree's part plant? <purely and totally confused look>

Fabulous

Libra · Post by **Libra** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:07 am

chershaytoute wrote:Okay, I never went past fruit flies in Biology, pretty much, and I actually managed to blow up the Chem lab...and that was decades back. Are y'all saying Bree's part plant? <purely and totally confused look>

LOL that would be funny.

I just quoted that because it goes along with some people's ideas of Bree being biologically engineered once upon a time. That would make sense in a way with the fact that she was adopted.

You've heard of scientists combining DNA from different organisms to get a certain desired product? (Mice with human ear, etc.) Maybe they combined this plant DNA with Bree's (and maybe a lot of other girls too!) to get her to produce higher levels of this ribozyme?

Just a crazy wacky idea. I don't know why they wouldn't just get the ribozyme from the plants. But anyways... I don't mean to confuse. I just enjoy crazy out there ideas.

Haether · Post by **Haether** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:34 am

Ok, this gets a little heavy...but I know some people here will understand this:

Hairpin Ribozymes
Hairpin ribozymes were first derived from the
‘minus’ strand of the satellite RNA of tobacco ringspot
virus. The second smallest ribozyme, ranging 50-70
nucleotides in size, with a secondary structure
consisting of four helices separated by two internal loop
sequences, the hairpin is extensively manipulated in
molecular therapeutics and target validation.The hairpin targets 14-nucleotide recognition
sequences on its substrate RNA, with a BNGUC
sequence requirement, where B can be any nucleotide
but adenosine. Moreover, unlike most other
ribozymes, the hairpin does not require divalent metal
cations as a catalytic cofactor or transition state
stabilizer. Instead, its mechanism of catalysis
entails major structural rearrangement of its catalytic
core—comprised of two irregular double helices—upon
docking, that forces a distortion in the substrate
structure and ultimately induces a reactive conformation
in the substrate. The reaction is thought to be a
concerted bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction,
driven by the binding energy of the two helices
comprising the catalytic core, with stabilization
of the transition state through a network of hydrogen
bonds.

the article also goes on to say hairpin ribozymes have been used to extend the life of photoreceptor cells in mouse eyes. Immortality anyone?
There's also a group of ribozymes called SMaRT. Are the creators trying to tell us something?

raigne · Post by **raigne** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:04 pm

Immortality makes sense because of the audition question, "Do you believe aging is treatable." Good theory...

Kanazaka · Post by **Kanazaka** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:22 pm

Libra wrote:
chershaytoute wrote:Okay, I never went past fruit flies in Biology, pretty much, and I actually managed to blow up the Chem lab...and that was decades back. Are y'all saying Bree's part plant? <purely and totally confused look>
LOL that would be funny.

I just quoted that because it goes along with some people's ideas of Bree being biologically engineered once upon a time. That would make sense in a way with the fact that she was adopted.

You've heard of scientists combining DNA from different organisms to get a certain desired product? (Mice with human ear, etc.) Maybe they combined this plant DNA with Bree's (and maybe a lot of other girls too!) to get her to produce higher levels of this ribozyme?

Just a crazy wacky idea. I don't know why they wouldn't just get the ribozyme from the plants. But anyways... I don't mean to confuse. I just enjoy crazy out there ideas.

It's not that wacky of an idea. And perhaps they either ran out of plants and didn't care to replenish their supply, or the human host is too important of a symbol to them. Plus we wouldn't have much of a story if they got the ribozyme from plants; probably just some boring videos of scientists working in a greenery

.