Let's do some joCaine

Super nerdy and quirky. Something like a drug I can be addicting, user discretion advised. ...Twitter and insta: @_jocaine Snapchat: lolo_blonde

[letsdojocaine]

no one:

me: iight imma take my talents to tumblr 

[blackfashion]

Rebel. ⚔️ IG: ____yamen

[dinsintegration]

[softcore-revolutionary]

[jawnkeets]

💫 a trip into town / new william blake docs 💫

[xbunnyclawsx]

[kay-docs]

[we-the-dreamers]

“Everyone you meet always asks if you have a career, are married or own a house; as if life was some kind of grocery list. But nobody ever asks if you are happy.”

— Heath Ledger

[elentori-art]

I now pronounce you, Garnet 💙❤️

[tashiecake]

Okay but why is no one hyping these children and their FABULOUS outfits though 💖😩

[letsdojocaine]

Chem & Bio Pick Up Lines

If I were an enzyme, I'd be DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes.

You're so hot, you denature my proteins.

Can I be the phasor to your electron and take you to an excited state?

Are you made of Copper and Tellurium? Because you are Cu-Te

Do you have 11 protons? 'Cause you're Sodium fine!

Do you like Science? Because I've got my ion you!

You must be gibberelin, because I'm experiencing some stem elongation.

You make my anoxic sediments want to increase their redox potential.

Are you made of Nickel, Cerium, Arsenic and Sulfur? Because you've got a NiCe AsS!

Hey baby, will a little more alcohol catalyze this reaction?

Didn't you know that chemists do it periodically on the table?

I bet you're like calcium bicarbonate - if I get you wet, the reaction will be explosive!

Are you made of Fluorine, Iodine, and Neon? 'Cause you are F-I-Ne

Me and you would undergo a more energetic reaction then Potassium and water.

Are you a compound of Beryllium and Barium? Because you're a total BaBe.

Im more attracted to you then F is attracted to an electron.

I will fondle your vesicles while you caress my golgi body.

I want to work on your leucine zipper with my zinc fingers.

If you were oxygen, I would be an alkali metal so i could get in you and explode!

We fit together like the sticky ends of recombinant DNA.

You are the photon to my photosystem: you excite my electron until I reach my reaction centre.

You're hotter than a bunsen burner set to full power.

If I were a neurotransmitter, I would be dopamine so I could activate your reward pathway.

Hey, wanna put your alpha helix in my beta barrel?

Hey baby, why don't you get your ligase working on my okazaki fragment and lengthen my strand.

Hey, are you an alpha carbon, because you look susceptible to backside attack!

Do you want to extract some protein from my column?

According to the second law of thermodynamics, you're supposed to share your hotness with me.

Everyone knows its not the size of the vector that matters, but the way the force is delivered.

How about me and you go back to my place and form a covalent bond?

If I was an endoplasmic reticulum, how would you want me: smooth or rough?

We can make a mess as I've hired some lysosomes to clean up after.

My hypothalamus must be secreting serotonin because baby, I want you!

I wish I was an Ion so I could form an exothermic bond with you.

You’re so cute you make my zygomaticus muscles contract.

I wish I were Adenine because then I could get paired with U.

You’re like telophase, I admire your cleavage.

Hey baby, want to form a synapse with me and exchange neurotransmitters?

Hey baby, want to form a zygote?

It’s a good thing you've got evaporative cooling, cause I’m going to make you sweat

If I were a Shwann cell, I'd squeeze areound your axon and give you a fast action potential.

Want to be my substrate/enzyme?

If my right leg is the cell wall and my left the membrane, do you want to be the cytoplasm?

If you were a concentration gradient I'd go down on you.

If you were C6, and I were H12, all we would need is the air we breathe to be sweeter than sugar.

Whenever I am near you, I undergo anaerobic respiration because you take my breath away

I want to stick to u like glue-cose.

You must be the one for me, since my selectively permeable membrane let you through.

Can I be your enzyme? because my active site is dying for a chemical reaction.

You give me more jolt than a mitochondria!

Right now we’re just two RNA, but maybe we could transcribe together and become DNA.

I have a smooth endoplasmic reticulum but know that I like it rough, if you know what I mean.

I also prefer my ribosomes bound tight. Spin me round with your basal body and make sure it's turgid.

Do you like aerobic respiration as much as I do?

[ramen-y-cajal]

ALCOHOL!

So first off: the logistics: Ok so imagine a molecule of alcohol. Are you imagining it? Ethanol= 2 carbons and an OH group. Pretty small… relatively nonpolar. I’d say it is willing to pass membranes. WHICH IT TOTALLY IS!

The rate alcohol takes to start having an effect is, surprise surprise, dependent on weight, sex, food. Although let me tell you what’s not a myth: drinking milk BEFORE consuming alcohol reduces how drunk you’ll get. Although anything you do after alcohol has been consumed and processed isn’t going to stop you from getting drunk or make you get sober quicker… sorry.

95% of alcohol is processed by the liver, 5% processed in the lungs. This 5% is why a breathalyzer can detect alcohol content. 

Alcohol is broken down by alcohol dehydrogenase->acetaldehyde which is broken down by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase-> acetic acid which is finally broken into water and CO2. There’s also cytochrome p450, which is responsible for MANY drug breakdowns, and is a common enzyme when checking for liver damage, because if there’s lots of this enzyme, the liver’s been hard at work.

What it does: Oh we know what it does… impairs judgement, memory, speech, motor skills. In moderation, though, it HAS been shown to reduce risk of stroke and increase good cholesterol so… there’s that.

Now the fun part.

Alcohol is ironically one of the hardest drugs for me to get straight because it affects so many systems

Glutamate: Glutamate is responsible, in this situation, primarily for memory. NMDA glutamate receptors have reduced affectiveness, and glutamate itself is released less in the hippocampus, which prevents the production of new memories, which is why memory is often groggy or completely absent in the presence of alcohol.

GABA: GABA, one of the few neurotransmitters that are actually inhibitory rather than excitatory, is stimulated to release more in addition to an increased sensitivity at GABAa receptors.

Dopamine: This is primarily for the addicting portion of alcohol, as it increases dopamine firing at the mesolimbic pathway, which is the reward pathway.

Opioids: endorphins are released! This releases inhibitions and in a sense causes… happiness, I guess. 

[theartemies-deactivated20200415]

Apples - the peel of the apples includes a powerful antioxidant called quercetin that enhances memory function

Avocados - promotes brain health and contributes to healthy blood flow

Berries - such as blueberries, cherries and even grapes have a direct effects on brain function. It contains antioxidants that improve blood flow to the brain and enhance neural activity

Broccoli - great source of vitamin K - enhance cognitive function and improve brainpower

Dark chocolate - has a powerful antioxidant which includes several natural stimulants that enhance focus and concentration

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - has a powerful antioxidants known as polyphenols that improve learning and memory

Eggs - more specifically the yolks, leading source of choline which is a precursor for acetylcholine - neurotransmitter involved in helping you remember things

Fish - have Omega-3 fatty acids that are essential to proper neural function. According American Journal of Clinical Nutrition - reduce risk of dementia as you get older

Nuts - rich source of vitamin E

Onions - ability to improve important brain function like memory and focus

Oatmeal - reduce risk for heart disease and promotes good flow to the organ system which includes the brain

Rosemary - contains carnosic acid that helps protect the brain from neurodegeneration; protects the brain against chemical free radicals

Salmon - omega-3 fatty acids to help keep your brain running smoothy and improve memory

Tomatoes - contains lycopene that could help protect against the kind of free radical damage to cells which occurs in the development of dementia

Turmeric - helps boost antioxidant levels and keep your immune system healthy; improves brain’s oxygen intake, keeping  you alert and able to process information

Yerba Mate - can enhance short term brain power

[reeseoreo]

Love

[ddistancemeanssolittle]

My new tattoo! The chemical compounds of dopamine acetylcholine and serotonin

[brainiology]

Falling in Love!!

Hello, brain people!

Love!! What on earth happens to your brain as you fall in love? There are three stages that we all go through as we fall in love with that special somebody: Lust, Attraction, Attachment

During Lust, sex hormones are released - this being oestrogen and testosterone in women and men respectively.

Throughout Attraction, you feel all wonderful and love-stricken! You can’t think of anything other than that special somebody. There are three main neurotransmitters that are involved in this stage, with each type acting within a specific pathway in the brain. These neurotransmitters are: Adrenaline (Epinephrine), Dopamine, and Serotonin.

Epinephrine is released during your body’s “stress response”, making your blood levels of adrenaline and cortisol increase. This means that even meeting with that somebody can make your heart race, as you also start to sweat. How lovely!

Dopamine is closely related to our brain’s “appetite system”, the system that is active whilst we are craving something. Dopamine stimulates “desire and reward”, and does this by triggering a rush of pleasure! This has a very similar affect to cocaine on the brain! Love is a drug!

Serotonin is an anti-depressant, and may also explain why, when falling in love, your love stays on your mind.

Finally, we have attachment! This is the tight bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to raise children. Yet again, we have chemicals to thank for this! These are: oxytocin and vasopressin.

Oxytocin, the cuddle hormone :), is a very powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm, and is said to deepen the feelings of attachment between the couple, making them feel much closer to each other. As the theory goes, the more sex that the couple has, the deeper the connection they feel for one another. Sounds good to me! :) 

Vasopressin is an anti-diuretic hormone that works with your kidneys to control thirst. Although little is known about the affects of this hormone, when male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner fell apart immediately, as he then would fail to protect his partner.

So go out there! Bump into a complete stranger, tell them about yourself, and fall in love! :)

[moleculeoftheday]

Molecule of the Day - Adrenaline/Epinephrine

Adrenaline (C9H13NO3), also known as epinephrine, is a naturally-occurring hormone and neurotransmitter found in our body. Along with noradrenaline, it is produced by the adrenal medulla, which is situated above the kidneys.

As a hormone, adrenaline stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, and is partly responsible for the “fight-or-flight” response.

It binds to adrenergic receptors, which are found in almost all tissues, inducing the breakdown of glycogen into glucose (see below), glycolysis, and also inhibits glycogen synthesis as well as insulin secretion. This results in a surge in glucose availability, providing a burst of energy needed to escape any danger. 

Adrenaline also promotes vasoconstriction, the narrowing of blood vessels, as well as an increase in heart rate to raise the amount of blood being pumped throughout the body. This causes more oxygenated blood to reach the body at a faster rate, enabling cells to carry out respiration to produce more energy as well.

An interesting study revealed that adrenaline is associated with fear. A 1999 study showed that subjects injected with adrenaline experienced greater feelings of fear upon watching horror films. They also expressed greater negative emotions than the control group.

In nature, adrenaline is biosynthesised from phenylalanine through multiple enzyme-catalysed reactions:

On the other hand, adrenaline can be synthesised from resorcinol and 2-chloroethanoyl chloride in the lab: