Case Study: Dr. Pauling
Part I: The Inquiry Begins
1. The reason Dr. Castle did not tell Dr. Pauling, which samples came from the sickle-celled individuals because he wanted to obtain a no biased conclusion as to the results Dr. Pauling, obtained.
2. Proteins have lively and complex structures. The purpose of a protein is decided by its structure; a change in the proteins activity level causes a change in some part of the proteins shape. In the experiment it is clear that the hemoglobin molecules of people with sickle cell anemia traveled at a different rate and therefore ended up at different places on the electrophoresis gel. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen through the body. Sickle cell hemoglobin is not like normal hemoglobin. It …show more content…
The mutation in sickle cell imitates one change in the amino acid building blocks of hemoglobin, which is the oxygen-transport protein. Hemoglobin is the component that gives red cells their color and it has two subunits, the alpha and the beta. The alpha subunit is normal in people with sickle cell disease. The beta subunit is the issue. It has the amino acid valine at position 6 instead of the glutamic acid that is normally present in that position. More valine causes the DNA to be larger and probably heavier too. This positioning is the very alteration that is the basis of all the problems that occur in people with sickle cell disease.
Part II: Normal Functioning
1. Advantage: If there is no nucleus there is more room for hemoglobin. More hemoglobin would mean more oxygen carrying capacity.
a. Disadvantage: Red blood cells have life span of 40 days and have to be replaced on a continuous basis. Also there is no mitochondria in RBC. No mitochondria means no energy factories for the cells. It also means the energy rich molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) will not be produced and the very efficient process of using food energy to make ATP will be gone and so will our amount of available …show more content…
Cells in tissues need a constant supply of oxygen to work well. RBC’s that contain typical hemoglobin are disc shaped and flexible so that they can move through large and small blood vessels to deliver oxygen to our organs. Atypical hemoglobin found in sickle celled patients are often compared to stiff rods or sickled shape. The problem with the shape is that these cells are not flexible and can stick and cling to vessel walls, causing an impasse that slows or in some cases completely stops the flow of blood. When this happens, oxygen can’t reach nearby tissues and our bodies go into failure mode.
3. According to new research brain cells can live at least twice as long as the organisms in which they reside. So in theory if the human lifespan could be stretched to 170 years we would not loose any neurons because we as humans are born with a fixed number that will last us our lifetime. On the polar opposite end of that spectrum our RBC’s only last for 120 days.
4. The RBC is a patient who suffers from Sickled cell anemia last on average 20 days compared with a person who has healthy RBCs which last 120
1. The reason Dr. Castle did not tell Dr. Pauling, which samples came from the sickle-celled individuals because he wanted to obtain a no biased conclusion as to the results Dr. Pauling, obtained.
2. Proteins have lively and complex structures. The purpose of a protein is decided by its structure; a change in the proteins activity level causes a change in some part of the proteins shape. In the experiment it is clear that the hemoglobin molecules of people with sickle cell anemia traveled at a different rate and therefore ended up at different places on the electrophoresis gel. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen through the body. Sickle cell hemoglobin is not like normal hemoglobin. It …show more content…
The mutation in sickle cell imitates one change in the amino acid building blocks of hemoglobin, which is the oxygen-transport protein. Hemoglobin is the component that gives red cells their color and it has two subunits, the alpha and the beta. The alpha subunit is normal in people with sickle cell disease. The beta subunit is the issue. It has the amino acid valine at position 6 instead of the glutamic acid that is normally present in that position. More valine causes the DNA to be larger and probably heavier too. This positioning is the very alteration that is the basis of all the problems that occur in people with sickle cell disease.
Part II: Normal Functioning
1. Advantage: If there is no nucleus there is more room for hemoglobin. More hemoglobin would mean more oxygen carrying capacity.
a. Disadvantage: Red blood cells have life span of 40 days and have to be replaced on a continuous basis. Also there is no mitochondria in RBC. No mitochondria means no energy factories for the cells. It also means the energy rich molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) will not be produced and the very efficient process of using food energy to make ATP will be gone and so will our amount of available …show more content…
Cells in tissues need a constant supply of oxygen to work well. RBC’s that contain typical hemoglobin are disc shaped and flexible so that they can move through large and small blood vessels to deliver oxygen to our organs. Atypical hemoglobin found in sickle celled patients are often compared to stiff rods or sickled shape. The problem with the shape is that these cells are not flexible and can stick and cling to vessel walls, causing an impasse that slows or in some cases completely stops the flow of blood. When this happens, oxygen can’t reach nearby tissues and our bodies go into failure mode.
3. According to new research brain cells can live at least twice as long as the organisms in which they reside. So in theory if the human lifespan could be stretched to 170 years we would not loose any neurons because we as humans are born with a fixed number that will last us our lifetime. On the polar opposite end of that spectrum our RBC’s only last for 120 days.
4. The RBC is a patient who suffers from Sickled cell anemia last on average 20 days compared with a person who has healthy RBCs which last 120