Pages

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Small Brains Considered - 12

Fig. 1 The Citric Counselors
I. The question

Could the smallest brain be "the citric acid cycle" (Fig. 1)?  

With the help of the wonderful works of art of Celeste Roberge I will contemplate that question.

Let's contemplate and answer "If so, then a group of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur, Phosphorus, and Oxygen atoms got together and "decided" to become "a cycle."

The cycle begins when a smaller group transfers some of "itself" ("its 2-carbon acetyl group") to another smaller group to make a larger group.

One wonders if that decreased or increased the brain power, because in the end "it" keeps on "thinking" the same thing and doing the same thing.

But "its long­stand­ing sway over our planet's biotic pro­cesses" takes a lot of "molecule-level she­nan­igans", where 'splainin' how these atoms select their "self" (Transformer, The Krebs (Bi)Cycle) is something only those who play with the doll named "Coenzyme A" can "know" for sure (The Doll As Metaphor, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

II. The Data


Oxaloacetate C4H4O5 +
Acetyl-CoA ((C23H38N7O17P3S + H2O) -
CoA-SH (C21H36N7O16P3S)) =
Citrate (C6H8O7)

Step 1: The citric acid cycle begins when Coenzyme A transfers its 2-carbon acetyl group to the 4-carbon compound oxaloacetate to form the 6-carbon molecule citrate (C6H8O7).
Citrate (C6H8O7) --> Isocitrate (C6H8O7)

Step 2: The citrate is rearranged to form an isomeric form, isocitrate (C6H8O7)
Isocitrate (C6H8O7) --> Alpha-ketoglutarate (C5H6O5)

Step 3: The 6-carbon isocitrate is oxidized and a molecule of carbon dioxide is removed producing the 5-carbon molecule alpha-ketoglutarate. During this oxidation, NAD+is reduced to NADH and H+ (C5H6O5).
Alpha-ketoglutarate (C5H6O5) --> Succinyl-CoA (C25H40N7O19P3S)

Step 4: Alpha-ketoglutarate is oxidized carbon dioxide is removed, and coenzyme A is added to form the 4-carbon compound succinyl-CoA. During this oxidation, NAD+ is reduced to NADH + H+ (C25H40N7O19P3S).
Succinyl-CoA (C25H40N7O19P3S) --> Succinate (C4H6O4)

Step 5: CoA is removed from succinyl-CoA to produce succinate. The energy released is used to make guanosine triphosphate (GTP) from guanosine diphosphate (GDP) and Pi by substrate-level phosphorylation. GTP can then be used to make ATP (C4H6O4).
Succinate (C4H6O4) --> Fumarate (C4H4O4)

Step 6: Succinate is oxidized to fumarate. During this oxidation, FAD is reduced to FADH2 (C4H4O4).
Fumarate (C4H4O4) --> Malate (C4H6O5)

Step 7: Water is added to fumarate to form malate (C4H6O5).
Malate (C4H6O5) --> Oxaloacetate C4H4O5


Step 8: Malate is oxidized to produce oxaloacetate, the starting compound of the citric acid cycle. During this oxidation, NAD+ is reduced to NADH + H+ (C4H4O5). 
 
The NADH + H+ and FADH2 carry protons and electrons to the electron transport chain to generate additional ATP by oxidative phosphorylation.

 III. The Art Of Artifical Thinking

Step 1. Coenzyme A
Contemplates Transferring A
chunk of self


Step 2. The citrate is rearranged

Step 3. 6-carbon isocitrate is oxidized
and a molecule of
carbon dioxide is removed

Step 4. Alpha-ketoglutarate is oxidized
carbon dioxide is removed
and coenzyme A is added to its "self"


Step 5. CoA is removed
from succinyl-CoA
to produce succinate

Step 6. Succinate is oxidized
to fumarate

Step 7: Water is added
to fumarate
to form malate
   

Step 8: Malate is oxidized
to produce oxaloacetate
"I AM A CYCLE NOW"

IV. The Answer

It is not that complicated:

“Teleology is like a mistress to the biologist; he dare not be seen with her in public but cannot live without her.” —J. B. S. Haldane

(Metaphor and Meaning in the Teleological Language of Biology). Watch the video below (spoiler alert "We don't know"), because the most-honest we can be with our words is "we don't know":

Dr. Paul Falkowski

"Andy. Thank you very much, Andy, and thanks for inviting me here. It's a pleasure. So I just want to begin this by thinking about a bridge. In this particular case, it's an obvious bridge. And if you think about evolution, you know where we've come to, but you don't know where we began. So origins of life is one of the most challenging problems facing science. Actually, as my friend and colleague Nick Lane says, it's the black hole of science. It's an embarrassment. And it's a very complicated problem." -Dr. Falkowski

(From transcript, emphasis added).

V. Closing Comments

There are billions of atoms in each of the "rock people" art work by Celeste, yet I could hopefully not convince you that they are contemplating and doing what a handful of atoms are said to be contemplating and doing (deciding to be a cycle).

This is just one example of what the use of teleology does to make "science" into pseudo-science (On The Origin of Genieology - 2).

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

1 comment:

  1. Containment entities are related to The Fine Structure Constant (~1/137) eh? ... https://youtu.be/RCSSgxV9qNw

    ReplyDelete