10/20/13
Published: Monday Oct 7, 2013
URL: http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2013/oct/07/cellular-transport-2013-nobel-prize-physiology-medicine-video
Summary:
On Monday, October 7th, 2013, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Sudhof for their discoveries in regulating vesicle traffic. These discoveries have a major impact on our understanding of timing and precision of vesicle docking, which is impacted by genetics. For a long time, how a cell organizes its transportation system has been a mystery to mankind until these three professors' discoveries. Each cell produces and exports molecules which are transported around the cell in packages called vesicles. It is a must that these vesicles arrive at the right place and exactly the right time for a cell to function properly. This transportation system is controlled by molecular principles. Schekman discovered a set of genes that are required for vesicle traffic. Rothman discovered the machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their targets to transfer molecules, and Sudhof uncovered how signals in the cell inform vesicles to release their cargo. The vesicles deliver molecules between different organelles in the cell. The missing presence of this transportation system causes major diseases such as diabetes and other neurological or immune system disorders.
Connection:
This video connects to our unit about cells, their organelles, and their functions. We learned about how proteins and other molecules are transported around the cell for it to properly function, but we never exactly got into much detail about how important it is for the vesicles to get to the right place at exactly the right time. This explains how vesicles work in a cell to transport molecules in and around a cell. These discoveries further inform us about the complexity of a cell and how similar it is to a factory, which was a comparison we even made in class. These discoveries show how important it is for each organelle and system in a cell to function properly. The video talks about how even removing the organization of this transportation system can lead to diseases and disorders that impact the whole body which shows how important everything in a cell is.
How does the missing presence of the vesicle system cause diabetes or other immune system disorders?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the result of these molecules being present in the cell, but not arriving to the right place at the right time? Is it possible for these molecules to do this in the first place with the presence of the set of genes that are for vesicle traffic?
ReplyDeleteThe result of this would simply be the cell cannot function. In a factory, there are many stations in which certain materials must arrive at in a certain order or the product would not be finished. Same as in a cell. For example, if you look at cellular respiration, all the necessary molecules need to arrive in the cell before anything can happen, then in turn they must go through glycolysis in the cytoplasm before they can enter the mitochondria for further reactions.
DeleteAs for your next question, I'm assuming you mean without the presence of the genes? The molecules do arrive in the right place at the right time because of genetics. Without these genes, they would not be able to do this because genes control everything that goes on in a cell. Genes are the information needed for a cell to survive, and to know how to reproduce etc. Without genes, nothing would be able to function properly in a cell.