Thursday, 31 May 2012

Giving Biological agents (molecules, cells etc) characters

I think I need to give biological components characters, like the cells in Once Upon A Time.... Life.

For example, enzymes can be blocked by non-competitive or competitive inhibitors.

Competitive Inhibitors attach to the enzyme where the enzyme normally binds to the molecule  it usually catalyses (the active site). Non- competitive Inhibitors bind to some other part of the enzyme, but change the shape of the active site so the normal molecule it catalyses cannot attach.

I often think of this process in terms of when somebody is in a relationship with someone, but they don't really like them that much, they really fancy someone else. But the boyfriend or girlfriend they have acts as an competitive inhibitor by a blocking potential love between two people who really like each other.

An example of a non-competitive inhibitor might be when all parties are single, but one person has declared an attraction to another person. This declaration prevents another person from trying to form a relationship with them, so as not to compromise a friendship.


Illustration to come....


Other Character Ideas


A manic dopamine molecule, mediating addiction

Serotonin molecules after ecstasy comedown.

DNA- Transcription- Translation


An authoritative DNA molecule dictates instructions to RNA, a tired ribosome translates information from RNA to amino acids.



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