#Gene Expression Regulation

[simonh]

Protein Modules In Signal Transduction: A Lecture by National Library of Medicine Via Flickr: Series Title(s): NIH director's Wednesday afternoon lecture series Contributor(s): Pawson, T. National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Medical Arts and Photography Branch. Publication: [Bethesda, Md. : Medical Arts and Photography Branch, National Institutes of Health, 1998] Language(s): English Format: Still image Subject(s): Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation -- physiology, Eukaryotic Cells -- physiology Genre(s): Posters Abstract: Black, orange, and red poster with a visual representing signal transduction. Details of the event are also given. Extent: 1 photomechanical print (poster) : 71 x 41 cm. Technique: color NLM Unique ID: 101456172 NLM Image ID: C02937 Permanent Link: resource.nlm.nih.gov/101456172

[cbirt]

In this day and age, artificial intelligence is everywhere; it’s omnipresent. It is utilized in healthcare, finance, entertainment, IoT, agriculture, marketing, cybersecurity, and so much more! In this article, we dive into the innovative ways researchers have found to integrate AI with genomics. The possibility of tuning the expression of certain genes in organisms has always been fascinating. Researchers at the Jackson Laboratory, the Broad Institute of MIT, and Harvard and Yale University have used AI to design new DNA switches that can control the expression of the genes in various cell types.

DNA switches, called cis-regulatory elements (CREs), control the expression and repression of genes. As we know, every cell in the human body contains DNA (except RBCs and platelets) and hence has the same set of genes. However, not all genes are active in each cell. CREs are not a part of the genes but are located near the genes they control. These CREs are regulatory DNA sequences that decide when and where these genes should be active. For example, they ensure that the liver and brain cells do their specific tasks by activating only the genes needed for those functions. Liver cells need genes for detoxifying compounds, whereas brain cells require genes for signal transmission. CREs help achieve this cellular specialization, yet finding ways to control these switches accurately has remained challenging, especially in gene therapy.

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[felinefractious]

[Image Source]

Gene Behind Orange Fur in Cats Found at Last

Shared from Science.org.

It would be pretty easy to guess that Garfield was a tomcat even if you didn’t know his name—or didn’t want to peek under his tail. Most orange cats are boys, a quirk of feline genetics that also explains why almost all calicos and tortoiseshells are girls.

Scientists curious about those sex differences—or perhaps just cat lovers—have spent more than 60 years unsuccessfully seeking the gene that causes orange fur and the striking patchwork of colors in calicos and tortoiseshells. Now, two teams have independently found the long-awaited mutation and discovered a protein that influences hair color in a way never seen before in any animal.

“I am fully convinced this is the gene and am happy,” says Carolyn Brown, a University of British Columbia geneticist who was not involved in either study. “It’s a question I’ve always wanted the answer to.”

Scientists have long been fascinated by tortoiseshell and calico cats: the offspring of a black cat and an orange cat. Multicolored cats from such a cross are almost always female, suggesting the gene variant that makes fur orange or black is located on the X chromosome. The male offspring of such a cross are typically unicolor because they inherit just one parent’s X chromosome: We can guess, for instance, that Garfield’s mother is orange because he inherited his only X chromosome from her.**

But female cats inherit an X chromosome from each parent. Cells don’t generally need both, so during embryonic development each cell randomly chooses one X to express genes from. The other chromosome rolls up into a mostly inert ball—a phenomenon called X inactivation. As a result, tortoiseshell cats end up with separate patches of black and orange fur depending on which chromosome was inactivated in that part of their skin. Calico cats add white fur into the mix because they have a second, unrelated genetic mechanism that shuts down pigment production in some cells.

In most mammals, including humans, red hair is caused by mutations in one cell surface protein, Mc1r, that determines whether skin cells called melanocytes produce a dark pigment or a lighter red-yellow pigment in skin or hair. Mutations that make Mc1r less active cause melanocytes to get “stuck” producing the light pigment.

But the gene encoding Mc1r didn’t seem explain where cats’ orange fur came from. It isn’t located on the X chromosome in cats or any other species—and most orange cats don’t have Mc1r mutations. “It’s been a genetic mystery, a conundrum,” says Greg Barsh, a geneticist at Stanford University.

To solve it, Barsh’s team collected skin samples from four orange and four nonorange fetuses from cats at spay-neuter clinics. As a proxy to determine how individual skin cells express genes, the researchers measured the amount of RNA that each melanocyte was producing and determined the gene it encoded. Melanocytes from orange cats, they found, made 13 times as much RNA from a gene called Arhgap36. The gene is located on the X chromosome, which led the team to think they had the key to orange color.

But when the researchers looked at Arhgap36’s genetic sequence in orange cats, they didn’t find any mutations in the DNA that encodes the Arhgap36 protein. Instead, they found the orange cats were missing a nearby stretch of DNA that didn’t affect the protein’s amino acid components but might be involved in regulating how much of it the cell produced. Scanning a database of 188 cat genomes, Barsh’s team found every single orange, calico, and tortoiseshell cat had the exact same mutation. The group reports the discovery this month on the preprint server bioRxiv.

A separate study, also posted to bioRxiv this month, confirms these findings. Similar experiments run by developmental biologist Hiroyuki Sasaki at Kyushu University and his colleagues revealed the same genetic deletion in 24 feral and pet cats from Japan, as well as among 258 cat genomes collected from around the world. They also found that skin from calico cats had more Arghap36 RNA in orange regions than in brown or black regions. Moreover Arhgap36 genes in mice, cats, and humans acquire chemical modifications that silence them on one of the two X chromosomes in females, Sasaki’s team documented, suggesting the gene is subject to X inactivation.

When Barsh and Sasaki learned their respective teams had discovered the same mutation, they decided to post their preprints at the same time. (Because they are preprints, neither study has been peer reviewed.) Both groups further found that increasing the amount of Arhgap36 in melanocytes activates a molecular pathway that switches the cells to producing light red pigment regardless of whether MC1r is active.

No one previously knew Arhgap36 could affect skin or hair coloration—it is involved in many aspects of embryonic development, and major mutations that affect its function throughout the body would probably kill the animal, Barsh says. But because the deletion mutation appears to only affect Arhgap36 function in melanocytes, cats with the mutation are not only healthy, but also cute.

Arhgap36’s inactivation pattern in calicos and tortoiseshells is typical of a gene on the X chromosome, Brown says, but it’s unusual that a deletion mutation would make a gene more active, not less. “There is probably something special about cats.”

Experts are thrilled by the two studies. “It’s a long-awaited gene,” says Leslie Lyons, a feline geneticist at the University of Missouri. The discovery of a new molecular pathway for hair color was unexpected, she says, but she’s not surprised how complex the interactions seem to be. “No gene ever stands by itself.”

Lyons would like to know where and when the mutation first appeared: There is some evidence, she says, that certain mummified Egyptian cats were orange. Research into cat color has revealed all kinds of phenomena, she says, including how the environment influences gene expression. “Everything you need to know about genetics you can learn from your cat.”

A Deletion at the X-linked Arhgap36 Gene Locus is Associated With the Orange Coloration of Tortoiseshell and Calico Cats

Molecular and Genetic Characterization of Sex-linked Orange Coat Color in the Domestic Cat

**Minor correction: Garfield’s mother could also have been a tortoiseshell.

[tenth-sentence]

One instructive example of such control is seen in the regulation of CLV3 by WUS, whose expression promotes the transcription of the CLV3 gene.

"Plant Physiology and Development" int'l 6e - Taiz, L., Zeiger, E., Møller, I.M., Murphy, A.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The up-regulation of alternative oxidase is an example of retrograde regulation, in which nuclear gene expression responds to changes in organellar status (Figure 12.11). (...) Taken together, these NADH hydrogenases and the NADPH dehydrogenases are likely to make plant respiration more flexible and allow control of specific redox homeostasis of NADH and NADPH in mitochondria and cytosol (see Figure 12.11). (...) Of special importance is the synthesis of ascorbic acid, a central redox and stress defense molecule in plants, by the electron transport chain (see Figure 12.11).

"Plant Physiology and Development" int'l 6e - Taiz, L., Zeiger, E., Møller, I.M., Murphy, A.

[valdevia]

VCRV (Verrucous Carcinoma Retrovirus) is a virus that uses reverse transcription to insert its genome into the host cell's. In rare cases, they may carry fragments of the host's DNA with them, passing them on to the next animal they infect.

Foreign DNA being inserted into the genome can end up causing a cancer that expresses genes from a completely different species.

VCRV creates cancers that are similar to Papillomavirus around the mouth and throat. In this case, a dog was infected by its human owners, leading the carcinoma to express human HOX genes that regulate the growth of fingers.

[pooksgetspooked]

Teacher’s Pet

Summary: Leon was never good with people. Not since Raccoon City, not after the DSO, and certainly not after he’s involuntarily signed up to be a temporary professor at a University. He simply didn’t have the same charm that others envied, so thank the heavens he didn’t have to be when you were there to charm him instead.

Pairing(s): Professor!Leon s. Kennedy x Student!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Content Warnings: MDNI! Age gap, Both of them are a bit of a creep, But they’re cute so it’s okay, Obsessive & Stalker undertones

“So, does anyone have an answer for this first question? Yeast deletion library can be used to validate tumor suppressor genes identified in tumors from humans. From such studies, we can infer that these genes function mainly as…? Anyone?” A lengthy silence followed, cut short by a sigh. “Mainly as cell cycle regulators.” The air of confidence ebbed away, leaving a soft murmur meant for his ears only as he slumped into his chair in behind the front desk.“Come on Leon, this is stupid. Awful. Am I even doing this right?” 

A calloused hand carded through blonde locks, tousling them as the man took a deep breath while sifting through his slides once more. “Is there anyone who knows what cell cycle regulators do? No, that’s too textbook, they’ll understand better in a real life application question,” he grumbled once more to himself within the vacant classroom, “real life application… I better start bringing lab samples if I’m gonna start talking about real life application,” he snorted dryly. Odd, maybe that’s an inside joke between him and himself. You couldn’t help but giggle softly to yourself; actually to yourself, unlike Prof Kennedy. Poor sod. Sat outside the classroom with your ears pressed against the door, you were jotting down notes to yourself with some scribbles for entertainment purposes. 

Your attention was rapt however, when you heard him murmur your name. Breath hitched, you froze while scrambling to pack your things and get away before he could open the door. “Yes, you. Do you have an answer to this question? It’s alright if you get the answer wrong, but i’d like you to try.” You let out a sigh of relief, shoulders sagging as you realized he was just practicing, but that didn’t stop the warm flush of your cheeks while your hand came up to cover your lips. Was he practicing with the thought of you in mind?

Professor Leon Kennedy, or Prof Kennedy as some of your classmates preferred to address him by, was the new professor teaching the principles of genetics module. You had heard whispers about him being younger than most of the geriatric professors, something something government involvement and a temporary break.

You were more concerned about this guy’s ability to teach, because you were damn sure if you had someone with the teaching capacity of a TA as your prof, you might personally see to that he clocks in his early retirement. 

But turns out, he was a pretty alright professor. You’ve definitely had better, he wasn’t exemplary. No, Prof Redfield took the cake for that. Eye candy, and brutal at Chemistry. You didn’t hate O chem any less than when you first started, but he was convincing enough to keep you from skipping. 

While Prof Redfield was masterful at his subject and teaching, Prof Kennedy was diligent but at the same time, kind of a grouch. It was kind of sweet to see how hard he was actually trying to make lectures more bearable, but you had every reason to believe that he himself could hardly stand being there when he never had anything beyond an impassive expression. You were pretty sure you’ve seen cadavers with more life in their face than he did 95 percent of the time. The other 5 percent was when class ends and he’s got the same urgency to match the pace he’s packing, because somehow he’s always the last guy in and first guy out of the lecture theatre.

“Alright class! Can anyone tell me about- no that’s not right, what am I saying?” Leon was near his wits end. Couldn’t recall why on earth he agreed to teach at some university as a break. Actually no, he did recall. 

He recalled how Chris and Claire had both coaxed him into the idea during one of their nights out drinking, and he recalled not recalling signing anything, but apparently he was already signed up for it within the same week of his disgruntled verbal agreement. He wished the government would work just a fraction as fast as whatever organization body that was desperate enough to take him in as a professor. Oh, but I think you’d be a good match Leon, what with all your lab background, you’ve got the knowledge they’re looking to teach. Plus, it’s an easy paid holiday from work! Leon rolled his eyes as he recalled the muddled voice of Claire, or was it Chris? Doesn’t matter. They considered a whole lot of his technical abilities, and a lot less of his social skills neck to neck with a nut. Tipping his head back as he stared up at the fluorescent lights, he thought back to his first lecture. Fucking terrifying, mind you. Facing BOWs with the ability to detach his spine from his head wasn’t anywhere near the same kind of nerve-wrecking when he had to stand in front of a whole auditorium of students. The second lecture was better, but only but the smallest sliver.

Lesser students this time, but still too many eyes for comfort. The only saving grace was that this time, he practiced. Spent an embarrassing amount of time going through the lecture materials with himself before stepping up on stage. 

Asides from that however, he had a little more brain capacity to actually observe the students during his second attempt. Most of which, jotting down notes on their ipads, using their phones; he couldn’t blame them, genetics can be pretty dry, and he would’ve chosen to teach something else as well if he was given the choice. However a little something stood out from the crowd. You were nearer to the front, rather dolled up. You were cute. And not only that, lo and behold, you were a nodder. Lecturers must love you, because Leon sure as hell did when he finally caught notice of you, and how you seemed to reciprocate his lectures with an encouraging nod and a smile whenever your gaze met. He found it a little easier to go up on stage after that. His gaze deviated more towards you, and at some point he just pretended like he was just teaching you. Drowned out the rest of the auditorium, and acted like it was just the two of you. 

That’s how he first came to know of you. Not actually though; professors don’t actually interact with the students. He didn’t get paid enough for that, and he didn’t want to come off as a creep, so he left you alone for the most part. 

Just did his own private digging to find out your name, and oh, would you look at that? You should really learn to safeguard your particulars better because it took him less than 5 to find your address, birthday, education history and wow, your grades were nothing to scoff at. Pretty, and smart? A girl after his heart, except that was a violation of so many school conducts that the idea was quickly carted off. He noticed starting from the fourth week that you were starting to find a voice in the class, and his attention all but zeroed in on you. The immense relief Leon felt when for the first time ever, a student actually tried to answer his question and not leave him to bask in awkward silence. It was only near the end of the lesson that he realized that his question was meant to be a rhetoric. It was an opening to the next chapter. You weren’t supposed to know what he was talking about, so how’d you know the answer? Do dean-listers just study ahead of class? “I just do some extra studying outside of class,” you had smiled sweetly up at him the one time he mustered the courage to approach you after the lecture ended, “you did a good job with this week’s lecture, by the way. The math was a little dry and confusing, but you made it a lot more bearable than it would’ve been.” The man was a real slump, but you could appreciate his effort, even if the exact opposite was reflected on his face every lesson. 

“Thank you,” caught off guard by the compliment, Leon sheepishly scratched at his chin, cheeks tinged warm, “if you ever need help, i’m usually free outside of lectures.” Both you and Leon blinked at each other. Whoa. Did the grumpiest professor you’ve ever interacted with just offer their time outside of class? Willingly? You were going to buy a lottery ticket later for your course code.

“Oh, I appreciate the offer,” your lips parted and closed as you tried to think of how to carry the conversation. You almost turned him down out of reflex, and frankly you never thought you’d make it to this stage. Sure, you were creeping just a little bit with the one sided after school supplementary class, but were you really about to push it? “how’s this friday?” The answer was yes. Yes, you were. Who knows? It might even be fun. This friday? Leon was going back home this friday to sleep away the school air and hopefully into a coma. Maybe he could sneak some drinks in, in his couch alone at home. That’s what he was doing this Friday. “This friday? I can do friday. I’ll email you later, and we can work out a time?” Or maybe not. “Sure! Thanks Prof,” he remembered how you beamed so warmly up at him, almost blinding, before strutting off with your bag hauled over one shoulder. With only the linger scent of your perfume tickling his nose, he was left to stand there by his lonesome.

It took a grand total of one and a half occasions for him to cave. The first was Friday. 

Friday came quick. Too quick, really. Maybe all that alcohol from a couple years back was finally coming back to fragment his memory, but it was like time was lost on him. Whatever time between that week’s lecture and Friday was lost on him while he was too busy imagining what the tutoring session would look like. Maybe he should smile a little more, come off more amicable and nice. Or should he just stick with the grumpy vibe? He knows that’s been hitting it off with some of the girls in school, he’s heard some of the passing comments. No, but you seem like a nice girl who would like a sweet guy. “Hey Prof, you okay?” Oh, why would you look at that? It seems his sense of time was failing him again. 

“Hm? I’m okay, just a little tired is all,” he blinked back to life, rubbing his face as he gave you a nonchalant wave of his hand, “don’t worry about me.” You frowned softly, eyes scanning him with an intensity that made Leon feel the same tingly warmth from last lecture. Before he could convince you any further, you leaned in close, and that might’ve been the closest Leon has ever been to a woman who didn’t have the ability nor intention to kill him in 3 seconds flat in a very long time.

He swallowed nervously, adam’s apple bobbing, but he otherwise made no move to push you away. Blue eyes flitted from your eyes; soft and glittery, down to your lips; Plump, pillowy and shiny. He noticed you usually had a tube of lip gloss on your desk during lectures. He went to google it, said it was strawberry flavoured. Suddenly, he was having cravings for strawberries. 

His lids fluttered, half lidded as he stared down at you, mind empty yet reeling all the same. What were you doing, little minx? “Your eyebags are pretty bad, a little too pale, your cheeks are kind of sunken as well. You should take care of your health a little more,” you suddenly said, before pulling away and returning back to your seat, back straightened as though nothing had happened. As though you didn’t lean in close enough for him to smell the strawberries off your lips. Didn’t threaten Leon’s self restraint to close the gap between the both of you. “ I can take care of myself. Thanks for the concern, but don’t worry about me kid,” he coughed, voice a low rumble as he glanced away. Right. He remembered reading about you being a medical student. He was getting ahead of himself. A doll like you with damaged goods like him? The notion was laughable, but Leon would never admit to the tinge of warmth that bloomed at the thought of it.

“Everyone could use a little help regardless of what stage of life you’re in,” you shrugged all to nonchalantly, like you were stating a fact. Which you were, before glancing towards him as you fished out this week’s study materials from your bag. “And you think you can help me?” “I’m sure I could be of some help, one way or another,” You flipped open your notebook, ipad on the side with your questions all prepared. What Leon wouldn’t give to have coworkers as efficient and enthused as you. Maybe he could put in a good word for you in his lab, pull you in for your internships. A relationship between co-workers would be alot less inappropriate than a relationship between professor and student. He knew he was still going to get shit from it from his office though, but that was a problem for later. Maybe then you could help him out. Out of his ditch of misery, out of his wandering mind, help him out of his pants. Whoa. Where did that come from?

He cleared his throat, swallowing his spit before picking up your notes. “We can talk about that another time. For now, what’re you having trouble with?” Half an hour in, and Leon was struggling. Fighting for his life, actually, because he’d been sporting a boner beneath the table 10 minutes in after your legs accidentally brushed against each other. He couldn’t tell if he was suffering from acute testosterone poisoning, and the horniness was deluding him into thinking that you were dropping him hints, or if you were genuinely showing some sort of interest in him. Your lashes fluttered when you stared up at him, lips coated in a sheen of gloss puffed into a soft pout everytime he explained something through tripped words and stutters. Everytime he found it in himself to knock the thoughts out of his head, you always found some innocuous way to enthrall him and his dick back into your whimsy, imaginary grasp. He wondered if your hands grab onto dicks as hard as you grabbed his attention. Just as Leon felt like he was finally going to see which would pop first; his dick or his blood pressure, the lesson was cut short. He wasn’t sure if he found the hour long session too short or too agonizingly long. Your eyes finally flickered away from him to your ringing cell, your lips rounded in surprise. “Sorry, this’ll be quick,” you gave him a sheepish little chuckle, manicured nails plucking the cell as you stood upright. To match, Leon’s cock sprung upright too. As you waltzed off, humming a small hello through the phone, all he could really see or hear was your bare thighs and waist, easily small enough for him to grab. And your ass? By god. He could see it from your physique. You were soft. Far softer than any of the ladies he had worked with for the last miserable 10 something years, all of which could easily deck and curbstomp him for having the thoughts he had towards you. 

You had a habit of leaning on one leg, Leon had noticed by the third class. You’d rest on one leg, your hips jutting out in that direction while the plush of your thigh squeezed beneath the hem of your pants to give a small pudge. Denim shorts day was a particular treat for him. Shame that today wasn’t one of those days, but it was still shorts day, so it was half a win for him. 

“Fine,” Leon blinked hard, gaze snapping right back up at the sound of your reluctant little sigh, “I’ll go, sure, but I’m not going for next week’s, I have some papers coming up. I’ll see about the week after,” you huffed into the phone, swapping the cell to the other hand so you could lean on your other leg. “Yeah?” He could hear your giggle, sweet and lithe. What other way more fitting words were there to describe you? “Alright, I’ll see you tonight. See you! Mhm, bye bye!” “Sorry about that, I thought I had my phone on silent, but I must’ve forgotten,” you slipped yourself back into your seat, your gaze rising from the screen of your phone back up to find leon’s, who was watching you ever so intently. “Some friends invited me to a party,” you supplemented, mistaking his stare for one of curiosity. 

Well, he wasn’t that curious before, but he certainly was now. He had heard all sorts of things about university parties, but never got the chance to actually experience one for obvious reasons. He had just about accepted his life ended at the tender age of 21 back in Raccoon City, before it was handed over and detained by the DSO for the unforeseeable remainder of his hopefully clipped life. 

So the idea of something as normal as a party charmed him, and through the shine of his eyes, you could tell. Your head tilted, an amusing little quirk of yours whenever your attention was hooked on something and the cogs in your head was turning. 

“You go to parties a lot?” he cleared his throat awkwardly, his turn to be fidgety under your scrutiny. He knew you were thinking. He knew you were thinking something of him, specifically. But he didn’t know what you were thinking. 

“I wouldn’t say a lot, I get invited a bunch but I don’t always go,” you word trailed off into a soft drone, mind pacing with considerations before you cracked a smile, “but would you like to come to this one?” “Uh, join you to a party?” the nervous chuckle slipped past his lips before he could even think to hold it back. You didn’t seem the slightest bit dejected from his apprehension however, instead choosing to press on. “You don’t have to of course, but if you’d like, you’re welcome to come to this one, it’s an open party, so other people will be there too!” 

 Oh god, what was happening. “I’ll uh, I’ll think about it?” He did. Sort of? He slept on it, more than anything. The rest of the session was a blur, you were a fast learner who pretty much solved the remainder of your own questions once you picked up on the first couple of questions. That, and he was pretty sure all the blood meant for his head was relocated to his dick, so forgive him if he was tripping over himself in a rush to get home and jerk himself off until his dick went raw.

By the next afternoon when he had stumbled out of bed with his crotch still sticky and bedside tissues stiff, imagine his surprise when we saw that you went ahead and did him the liberty of actually emailing him the party address; he had thought you were just saying it to be nice, honestly. 

‘Hey Professor Kennedy! Here’s the address for the party, again no pressure if you don’t feel like coming, but there’ll be free drinks if you do!

Take care!’ 

He spent way more time than he cared to admit considering your offer. Somehow, you’ve reduced him from a grouch wagering bets as to whether tomorrow would be the day he bites the bullet, into still too old of a man feeling like a perverted youth with a libido to match.

He thought long and hard through the myriad of fantasies that played out while he went to shower. As his hands absentmindedly lathered his soapy, blonde locks, his gaze fixed on the water stained glass. He could picture the droplets sliding down your back and past the curves of your ass. The size of the shower would force you to press flush against his chest, his stiff mast resting on your lower back, balls against the perk of your butt. 

Would you pant as he lays his weight on you, your breast pressed up against the glass and the shaft of his dick shower in the slippery dip of your pussy? Maybe you’d mewl as he toys with your nipples, rough pads pinching and twisting at the nipples while grubby hands knead and paw at the plush of your chest. He bet he could make your breath hitch and your eyes well with tears as he feeds just the tip of his dick to your gummy walls, never pushing himself all the way in. Just the tip, until you’re begging like he was your lifeline and that you’d be his good girl. 

His jaw clenched, chest tight and knees buckled as milky fluids splattered against the glass, catching the drops of water that rolled down. Leon’s lips parted as he blinked himself back to the present, the fluorescent light making it difficult for his sight to return, his ears ringing while his chest heaved desperately for air. 

For that second that your imaginary presence coaxed his undoing, he forgot how to breathe.For as much as he wants to be your lifeline, you were quickly becoming his.

[felixcloud6288]

"Basic Biology" Transphobic rhetoric is so stupid and so frustrating to listen to for someone like me going into a genomics field.

To begin, the default human sex is female. So there's no point in even arguing about whether or not someone is a woman on any biological level. That's the default state.

Meanwhile, the binary nature of their mindset causes everything to essentially boils down to whether or not your genetic code contains a roughly 840-base pair length gene sequence called the SRY gene. This gene makes up roughly 0.00000028% of the human genome.

SRY is an ON switch. It activates various male-coding genes, WHICH ARE IN DIFFERENT CHROMOSOMES. Which means that everyone has the genetic material to become male, it's just a question of if the activation switch was properly installed.

But it's possible to have the gene and it fails to be expressed, causing you to become an XY female. It's possible as you get older for the Y-chromosome, and subsequently the SRY gene, to get deleted from your DNA. It's possible for the SRY gene to end up in an X chromosome and have an XX male. It's possible for the fetus to develop both male and female sex organs.

Meanwhile Transphobes are like "Ignore all that. Ignore how hormone regulation is done by different genes. Ignore that human bodies produce estrogen and testosterone naturally. Ignore that our bodies are actively receptive to estrogen and testosterone. Ignore that the SRY gene is a one-time gene that doesn't do anything after to the point you can remove it and it won't change anything. Ignore that the actual argument is completely cultural in nature and we're using FALSE arguments about biology to justify our bigotry and hatred."

Transphobes will look at this and say "Behold a man!":

AGAAGTGAGTTTTGGATAGTAAAATAAGTTTCGAACTCTGGCACCTTTCAATTTTGTCGCACTCTCCTTGTTTTTGACAATGCAATCATATGCTTCTGCTATGTTAAGCGTATTCAACAGCGATGATTACAGTCCAGCTGTGCAAGAGAATATTCCCGCTCTCCGGAGAAGCTCTTCCTTCCTTTGCACTGAAAGCTGTAACTCTAAGTATCAGTGTGAAACGGGAGAAAACAGTAAAGGCAACGTCCAGGATAGAGTGAAGCGACCCATGAACGCATTCATCGTGTGGTCTCGCGATCAGAGGCGCAAGATGGCTCTAGAGAATCCCAGAATGCGAAACTCAGAGATCAGCAAGCAGCTGGGATACCAGTGGAAAATGCTTACTGAAGCCGAAAAATGGCCATTCTTCCAGGAGGCACAGAAATTACAGGCCATGCACAGAGAGAAATACCCGAATTATAAGTATCGACCTCGTCGGAAGGCGAAGATGCTGCCGAAGAATTGCAGTTTGCTTCCCGCAGATCCCGCTTCGGTACTCTGCAGCGAAGTGCAACTGGACAACAGGTTGTACAGGGATGACTGTACGAAAGCCACACACTCAAGAATGGAGCACCAGCTAGGCCACTTACCGCCCATCAACGCAGCCAGCTCACCGCAGCAACGGGACCGCTACAGCCACTGGACAAAGCTGTAGGACAATCGGGTAACATTGGCTACAAAGACCTACCTAGATGCTCCTTTTTACGATAACTTACAGCCCTCACTTTCTTATGTTTAGTTTCAATATTGTTTTCTTTTCTCTGGCTAATAAAGGCCTTATTCATTTCA

And they'll ignore the remaining 0.99999972% of us that truly decides who we are.

[humancelltournament]

Human Cell Tournament Round 1

Propaganda!

A killer T cell is a T lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) that kills cancer cells, cells that are infected by intracellular pathogens (such as viruses or bacteria), or cells that are damaged in other ways. Most cytotoxic T cells express T-cell receptors (TCRs) that can recognize a specific antigen. An antigen is a molecule capable of stimulating an immune response and is often produced by cancer cells, viruses, bacteria or intracellular signals. Antigens inside a cell are bound to class I MHC molecules, and brought to the surface of the cell by the class I MHC molecule, where they can be recognized by the T cell. If the TCR is specific for that antigen, it binds to the complex of the class I MHC molecule and the antigen, and the T cell destroys the cell.

In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei and in most Archaeal phyla. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn are wrapped into 30-nanometer fibers that form tightly packed chromatin. Histones prevent DNA from becoming tangled and protect it from DNA damage. In addition, histones play important roles in gene regulation and DNA replication. Without histones, unwound DNA in chromosomes would be very long. For example, each human cell has about 1.8 meters of DNA if completely stretched out; however, when wound about histones, this length is reduced to about 90 micrometers (0.09 mm) of 30 nm diameter chromatin fibers.

[catboybiologist]

has anyone ever told you that you're perfect as a biological man and you should learn to love yourself as the man that you are????

so cw for discussions of transphobia and all that. So first off, yes, but I'm still trans. End of that discussion.

But anyways, I got this and a similar ask back to back, from either a transphobe or a troll making a weird joke. While the asks themselves are uninteresting, they made me want to talk about something that's been brewing in my head a while. And that's how the phrases "biological man" and "biological woman" make no goddamn sense, as a biologist. So I'm gonna use this ask as starting point to launch into that greater discussion- I'm not really responding to the asks itself, more dumping some thoughts I've had kicking around for a while. (Also sorry this blog is so transfemme language centered sometimes, I'm just writing from my perspective and don't want to exclude anyone I'm sorry. The rest of this post will be from a transfemme perspective but applies to transmascs as well for testosterone and other elements of ftm transition).

The reason it doesn't make sense to me is like, what exactly do you mean by biological? You're describing a massive biological system, and all of its components. So let's dissect what you could mean by "biological".

Obviously you're not talking about the entire human biochemical system, because biology includes our thoughts and behavior. So if someone socially or identity transitions, we're already eliminating some biological factors from what we consider as "biological" here.

Soft tissue secondary sex characteristics are easily acquired by HRT. Shit, I have some breasts growing already, and I'm 4.5 weeks in. So that can't be what you're talking about.

So maybe you're talking functional genetics? Well if we wanna talk that way, we gotta talk about gene regulation. The entire point of taking HRT is the change patterns in gene expression across the body, suppressing genes associated with masculine secondary sex characteristics and promoting genes associated with feminine secondary sex characteristics. Estrogen, like any hormone, is a signalling molecule that is trafficked between cells and across the body. Its job is to kick off a network of downstream signals that carry out a variety of individual functions. So in terms of active genes, a trans person on HRT will functionally be the sex of their target gender.

Okay okay, maybe for some reason you don't care if they're off or on, if you have a gene that has the potential to make you male, you're a man, dammit! Well, as mentioned before, everyone has the genes required to give you secondary sex characteristics of either sex. So under that definition, everyone is biologically both a man and a woman at the same time. And also biologically cancer. Not "biologically has cancer", biologically IS cancer. Also, we're all every organ all at once everywhere on our body. Changing patterns in gene expression are how one organ differentiates from another, and how many visible traits arise. As mentioned earlier, this includes many genes responsible for secondary sex characteristics.

But chromosomes! Y chromosome is a man! The only reason the X and Y chromosomes have relevance to sex determination is due to the Sry gene, which is linked to the Y chromosome. Why is this the case? Well, your chromosomes are paired. Normally, pairs of chromosomes are the same size and have the same genes. This is helpful, because it means you can have two copies of every gene- if one becomes nonfunctional, you have a backup, or you can express multiple spicy variants of the same gene. Somewhere in our evolutionary history, one of these pairs of chromosomes experienced a large scale deletion, causing many of these genes to be missing. It's fine if you have the backup copies on the other chromosome- but some kind of patch needs to be developed to help make sure that, on average, most offspring have at least one copy of the full chromosome. So, the individuals that linked the Sry gene to the Y chromosome, the chopped-up version of the chromosome, passed down some offspring. But there's nothing intrinsic about why it has to be this way- most animals don't have chromosomal sex determination at all. Even in mammals its fairly common for an X chromosome to grab the Sry gene, creating a phenotypic male with an XX karyotype. It's an evolutionary patch, nothing more, and a rule that is frequently broken. And if we want to talk about evolutionary patches being biological determinism… well then let's start talking about how vitamin C deficiency is the "biologically mandated" state of the human. And besides, chromosome structure is really mostly relevant for how it functionally affects gene expression, and we already talked about how gene expression is changed by HRT here.

Alright, alright dammit. I'm talking about the genitals, dammit. If you have a penis you're a man! Okay great. Tell me if you would classify post-SRS women as "biological" women then. Also, we're really starting to reach here.

Fine! I'm talking about bone structure and bone structure alone! I mean yeah, some elements of bone structure will always remain in someone that's had testosterone in their system long enough- its rock deposits in your body after all, its difficult to reverse. But some don't! Even adults on transfemme HRT experience hip widening, changes in height, and other changes in their bones (they just take a LONG time, and I've often ranted about the massive amount of misinformation regarding how long HRT takes to show its full effects). Additionally, there's plenty of surgeries for facial structures- is FFS the true hallmark of a "biological" woman? And also… no matter what metric you start drawing lines on here, you're gonna end up excluding some cis women as well.

To be abundantly clear, NONE of this is to say that you aren't valid if you aren't medically transitioning. What I'm doing here is pointing out that "biological" is a useless, overexpansive, arbitrary adjective that, even using the most transphobic definitions, still includes most trans people. The line is drawn… somewhere in here, to them. And more often than not, it will be drawn wherever excludes the most trans people, which will invariably exclude some cis people, and they'll all eat each other alive.

The reality is that "man" and "woman" are useful conventions that can be generally applied to classify most people into one category or another. And that's not unique to gender, it's literally how language works. As with pretty much any linguistic classification, its observational, not prescriptive. When thinking up of names for animals, we don't think up of a definition first, we see a group of animals that share similar traits and then think up of a name that will represent that species. But then, if we find more edge cases later, or an edge case becomes more prominent, we either adjust the definition or subdivide the group further with accurate terminology. Imagine if, around the time humanity discovered weasels, we made a definition of weasels that only included the European Mink. Then we found the least weasel, and people started crusading about how its "not biologically a weasel" and "defend weaselkind". It's just so… arbitrary. Where it begins and ends is up to us as a society, and linguistics, meaning that "biological" as an adjective here isn't doing much.

What is a woman? Well, some combination of the factors above, and many, many more I didn't talk about here. It's a classification cluster of people exhibiting certain traits that is not easily reducible to a simple adjective. And guess what, so is literally anything we see in the world. What is a race? What is a nationality? What is a species? What is continent? There are useful, simple definitions for each of these things- and those definitions are helpful on a first pass! But once you start to examine it more closely, that utility breaks down, and you have to get more nuanced. Which is exactly what happens for trans people, but for some reason, people aren't willing to have that conversation in the same way we're able to have quirky debates over whether or not Australia counts as a continent or an island.

I want to develop these thoughts further at some point, but I hope this is at least a good summary of my perspective on all this, as a biology grad student, and I hope that some people find utility and comfort in my explanation!

[mindblowingscience]

In a paper published in Science Bulletin, a team of Chinese scientists demonstrated that TaSRT2 recognized viral protein P153 and induced wheat resistance to CWMV through inhibition of the TaSRT2-mediated deacetylation of H3K9ac and H3K79ac, which eventually activated the expression of defense-related genes TaLRR1, TaRGA3, and TaWRKY41. This study was led by Dr.Jian Yang and Dr. Kaili Zhong (State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Ningbo University). Their findings reveal a strategy that plants use to protect themselves from viral infection by regulating deacetylase function.

Continue Reading.

[science-sculpt]

Epigenetics: A Journey Through Inheritance Beyond Genes

For centuries, scientists have been fascinated by the mysteries of heredity and how traits are passed down from generation to generation. DNA, the molecule that stores our genetic code, was once thought to be the sole determinant of our characteristics. However, a new frontier in biology, revealing a captivating layer of complexity beyond the DNA sequence itself: Epigenetics.

What is Epigenetics?

The term "epigenetics" was first coined in the 1940s by British biologist Conrad Waddington, but it wasn't until the late 20th century that its significance truly blossomed. Epigenetics, literally meaning "above genetics," refers to the study of heritable changes in gene expression that occur without alterations to the DNA sequence itself. Imagine DNA as the musical score, but epigenetics are the conductor and musicians who determine how the music is played. Through chemical modifications and adjustments to the proteins around DNA, epigenetics dictates which genes are turned on or off, influencing how cells function and ultimately shaping our health, development, and even behavior. Think of your DNA as the hardware: it contains the basic instructions for building and running your body. But epigenetics acts like the software, fine-tuning those instructions and determining which genes get turned on or off at specific times and in specific cells. These modifications, like chemical tags or changes in the packaging of DNA, don't alter the underlying code itself, but they can have a profound impact on how it's read and interpreted.

The Key Players:

DNA methylation: This process involves adding a methyl group to DNA, essentially silencing the gene it's attached to. Imagine it like putting a dimmer switch on a light bulb.

Histone modifications: Histones are proteins that package DNA, and changes in their structure can make genes more or less accessible to the cellular machinery needed for expression. Think of it like adjusting the curtains around a window - open wide for full light, slightly closed for filtered light.

Non-coding RNAs: These are molecules that don't code for proteins but can regulate gene expression in various ways. They're like the backstage crew in a play, ensuring everything runs smoothly.

The Power of Epigenetic Regulation

Epigenetic regulation plays a crucial role in various biological processes, including:

Development: During embryonic development, different cell types emerge from the same DNA blueprint by activating or silencing specific gene sets through epigenetic modifications.

Cellular differentiation: Specialized cells like muscle or nerve cells have unique functions due to differences in their active genes, controlled by epigenetic mechanisms.

Learning and memory: Epigenetic changes in brain cells are thought to be essential for learning and forming memories.

Aging: As we age, our epigenome accumulates changes that can contribute to age-related decline and disease.

Environmental influences: Diet, exercise, stress, and exposure to toxins can leave epigenetic marks on our genes, potentially impacting our health and even the health of future generations.

Epigenetics reminds us that we are not simply products of our genes. Our environment, choices, and experiences leave their mark, shaping who we are and potentially influencing our children's health. This deeper understanding of ourselves opens doors for self-awareness, empowerment, and potentially reshaping our narratives – not just as individuals, but as a species with the potential to leave a healthier legacy for generations to come.

[elbiotipo]

How should nekomimi be inherited to not look weird?

I think that if they are simply humans with certain animalistic traits then it can be done like irl phenotypes, basically "some mixed kids inherit them, some don't" and leave it here, so there can be a community of mostly cat people with some individuals with fully human features to not make it look weird (and vice-versa, some nekomimi people amongst "normal" humans who don't belong to any of the cultures of cat people).

But what about some more complicated feline features like vision or dietary needs and such?

And even more importantly, is my idea of how to do nekomimi genetics in a fantasy setting not weird in itself?

It's NOT weird. The only thing better than catgirls are catgirls who fit in the worldbuilding.

Now, if you want a technobabble excuse, you could always use homeobox genes that you could say develop different kinds of ears, tails (biologist note: this is NOT exactly how homeobox genes work, but they do kinda work as an technobabble excuse) inside a wider, let's say, "humanoid" species or genus. These could be inherited as diverse alleles of such traits (for example, the 'ears' gene could have cat-like, dog-like, human-like, etc. alelles) and also have mendelian or non-mendelian distributions. Suppose you want to make a fantasy mendelian system, you could say "cat ears are recessive, human ears are dominant" (note: "recessive" and "dominant" don't mean "worse" and "better" it just means than an allele is "hidden" or deactivated by the dominant one. Sorry if I make a mistake, I learned all this in Spanish) and figure out inheritance from there, just traits that are cleanly inherited in regular proportions. This is not how most genetics work, however. There's multiple kinds of non-mendelian inheritance... multiple alleles, codominance, sex-linked inheritance, and of course quantitative genetics which is when alleles don't manifest in a single discrete trait but rather a continous measurable one (such as height)... now I feel I'm doing my genetics course again, but I'm sure you can tell how such things can work if you read an intro text about it.

There's a bunch of caveats here, and I'm gonna speak very broadly here. In humans, there aren't single, well defined genes that codify appearance for, for example, hair texture and color, skin/eye color, etc. in the sense that there's a "blue eye gene" or "curly hair gene". In fact this is the case for most genes, most are multi-allelic or quantitative with different 'weights' for a continous trait. Or BOTH. People tend to inherit different genetic 'weights' (very unscientific term here, sorry) from one parent or another and this can be very random, with some expressing different traits even if having the same family (this is why you see people who resemble almost perfectly to one parent instead of a "mix" of both, and of course those who indeed look like a mix of both. And these in turn have nothing to do with genetic diseases, blood types, or other inheritable things) There are hundreds of genes involved in each trait of human appearance and they all interact with each other, and most aren't even known, we don't fully know the genes that regulate skin, hair or eye color, just to give a few examples. So it's almost never stuff like "dominant purple flower, recessive white flower", Mendel was VERY lucky and smart to pick out discrete alleles to find out his laws. Most traits aren't like that at all, especially in animals.

Which brings me to my next point. It's very unlikely mendelian inheritance of traits such as ears or tails would have evolved naturally in animals. The development of characteristics such as ears or tails is deep, deep in the early embryo development, a very fragile period for animals. A species that has such huge genetic variations in such key periods of development faces severe selective pressure and it's unlikely these extreme "alleles" would remain, errors on them would cause extreme malformations or just embryos not developing at all. Even humans have this trouble, the loss of tails in apes, for example, has let us to suffer from spina bifida, every body plan change has a huge cost and this is why animals are sometimes very conservative with it, most body plans are the modification of existing features rather than the apperance or removal of different ones, and this is at evolutionary scales, not even living populations. Of course, some animals are more, let's say, plastic, like dogs, but even they have a general body plan, there aren't dogs without ears or tails, for instance. Even dogs are the consequence of tens of thousands of very intensive artificial selection which did not happen naturally at all, I mean, it's not like poodles or daschunds have any sexual or natural selection advantage for themselves, they are adventageous for us. You can see that wild and feral dogs, without the pressure of human artificial selection tend to converge into a more general dog plan (the so called "pariah dog", but also see dingos, and of course wolves, I'm skipping a lot of stuff here), adapted to local climates.

Surprisingly, I can see diet being less problematic in this sense. After all, we know there are for example human populations adapted to lactose. Dogs have also evolved enzymes to digest carbohydrates which wolves don't have, while not as nutritious as their carnivorous diet it works better with our human diet. Different bacterial flora can also help digest things that are surprising though, such as cellulose (though bacterial flora is still an underrated and ongoing field of study) It's also much easier to imagine changes in dentition than the whole head plan. So I can easily imagine different populations adapting to different diets. Same with eyes, I mean, daltonic and colorblind human population exists, the EYE is mostly the same, but it works differently. But again, the body plan remains the same. Humans or dogs might have different aptitudes for diets, but they don't stop being omnivores or carnivores.

Of course, tis' fantasy. So why expect things to follow natural evolution? Hell, why even expect fantasy people in a pre-industrial setting to know about homeobox genes? Depending on your setting, it might be that these traits are stable and inheritable because of a magical curse/blessing, or that the gods or the inherent magic of the world said so. However, if you have a species that has multiple, very different appearances and those are inheritable, you're dealing with some rather heavy stuff here that redefines your concept of humanity. In Dungeon Meshi, for instance, they talk about this, as the typical "elf, dwarf, halfling, human" fantasy races all can and do have children with each other, and (spoilers!) they seem to have a common origin, and thus all are actually called "humanity" which is a very interesting concept, because, indeed, what else are they if they don't actually have any real biological barriers. Meanwhile, the differences with other more "distant" species? races? such as orcs and kobolds (canine-like) are shown as rather arbitrary and depending on the culture, in fact, even humans (or rather "tallmen") get excluded from "humanity" in some cases. (not even tackling the whole long-short lived races thing). Similarily, you could say these "nekomimi" are just humans with a particular blessing or curse (again, in Dungeon Meshi, there is Izutsumi), but that works on the particular designs of your fantasy world and magic system... and let's say that when such concepts have appeared in real life, well... I don't need to tell you these are rather heavy and controversial topics to tackle. I don't think you should shy away from portraying them, but again, it's something to think about very carefully.

Since this is a heavy topic, I'm gonna take you out of fantasy for a sci-fi perspective. In my biopunk setting (it's on the tag "soft biopunk" on my blog) there are kemonomimi people all around, and in fact, all sort of genetic cosmetics, in fact, one of the main characters is indeed a communist catgirl. Most of it, however, is made in adults, much like getting tattoos or piercings. Tegument (i.e, skin) in humans and most vertebrates is surprisingly plastic, and one can 'grow' ears and implant them, or estimulate the production of feather or scale genes in the skin. Meanwhile, things such as tails have a little more involved surgery, since you also need to take into account nerves, muscles, circulation, etc. Meanwhile stuff such as muzzles and others require very extensive surgery, so it isn't as common. So these are implants (non inheritable) rather than expression from embryos, what geneticists would say germline modification. Such things also occurs but is done way more carefully and is more extensive, and it's nothing you would do just for the sake of cosmetics, when you're doing that, you're basically starting a new branch of humanity with all that implies. On the other hand, sentient "uplift" cats, dogs, and many other animals do exist, but they aren't animals that act like humans, they are sentient animals with a way of thinking and behavior very different to us, you aren't talking to a "cat with human intelligence", you're talking to an intelligent cat (when they want to talk, anyways). So, you can't REALLY turn a Felis catus into a catgirl, but a Homo sapiens can do a rather passable one.

Well, this has been a lot of fun to write and think about, so I hope you enjoyed it, and sorry for the walls of text! I promise to make a better post with some better illustrations of hot catgirls. In any case, if you found this useful, I would be very grateful if you gave me a tip! Given our economic situation here with Milei (the guy who cloned his dog, how appropiate), anything helps!

Feel free to ask anything you'd like!

[leafnighthybridwolfsbane]

Sandwing Headcanons

(Info below the cut)

I had fun drawing this one! I nearly forgot one of the back legs, so that was interesting. I kinda based this one on red sand and the mesa/badlands. This one is a bit more simplified than the others, but honestly it was a nice break from doing more detailed designs.

Tribe Headcanons

The black sclera and cheetah-like marking helps them see through the blazing haze the sun creates on the sand. Especially sand that is nearly white.

The tufts of fur on their ears helps keep flies and other insects away from their ears.

Sometimes a Sandwing will grow a beard and resemble a Bearded Vulture, though this is extremely rare in the tribe. Maybe 1 in every 10,000 of them get the genes to be able to grow one.

Some Sandwings are also born with retractable fangs like a venomous snake's.

The bearded plates on their necks can puff out as an intimidation tactic.

They also can cry blood as a way to scare off oncoming dragons that might try to kill them if nothing else works.

Their scales match the palette of the sands that they hatched in. This means different natural sand colors can influence the color of a Sandwing's scales. It is near impossible to have them hatch the color of dyed sand. When it does happen, they are considered defective.

Sandwings are the third largest tribe in general, beaten by a a few hairs by the Nightwings.

Their wings are made for long distance travel, making staying in the air for long periods like a walk in the park. They are only beat by Skywings when it comes to flight time between landings.

The top of their wings are colored the same as the sand they hatched in. The bottom coloration of their wings matches their lighter colored underbellies.

Sandwings have the easiest time getting freckled scales due to their length of time in the sun.

Sandwings tend to show emotion though music, dance, and their festivals. Most dragonets are even pushed to learn something to help with one of those three things instead of actually feeling out their emotions.

Sandwings are considered the best ambush predators out of all of the tribes due to their tails and lack of outward showing emotions. A lot of assassin groups either are lead of Sandwings, made up of mostly sandwings, or are purely made of sandwings.

Most tribes mistake them for being an angry tribe. They're not. They're a vengeful and ambitious tribe. If a perfectionist could be put into a single tribe, it would be the Sandwings. They hold their pride high, but not on a faulty pedestal.

Their patience is unmatched, even by a Nightwing's standards. Having them angry at another dragon is silent, but it oozes into the atmosphere is a scarily silent way.

On a lighter note, Sandwing scales are warm to the touch, like a heated rock on a mid-summer's day. They're unfazed by the chill of an icewing's scales.

On that note, fire scales were once such a common ability in Sandwings that Sandwings used to be their nickname. They used to be called Sunwings.

Their spine sail is to help them regulate their internal body heat.

Lore Headcanons

One of their greatest exports in the past was their assassination services. The Scorpions Den used to be this mystical den of assassins before it became a place for what most of the tribe would consider "Undesirables".

Festivals dedicated to the longest day of the year are full of joy and laughter. Their hard, almost completely unreadable, outward expressions melt into this calm and most of the time happy celebration.

It took several centuries for Sandwings to show the array of emotions they do now. Some say that it was because a cowardly queen had used her subjects in a manipulative way that broke the tribe of feeling anything. Others say it was almost like an animus curse. No one really knows.

Survival is their main priority due to them having this sixth sense of having a strong gut instinct about what another dragon will do. Though they are getting better with trusting other dragons under the current queen's guidance.

Current exports include tanned hides and poisons. With their aloof nature, business is done upfront. They take trades and deals seriously, so backing out with enough time or a good excuse means you aren't cut off. They tend to talk to other Sandwing traders, meaning a dragon will not be able to scam others, or waste their time. Scammers are killed on sight. There are no questions asked.

Betrayal upon one is betrayal of all. Sandwings, no matter their position in life, will back one another unless they have done something egregious. Family units are commonly not broken, but in recent years it's not unknown of.

Keeping a singular bone of one family member, be it blood or not, is considered a sacred thing to the individual Sandwing. It means that dragon was extremely important to them. It is sacrilege to take or destroy it. This is the highest form of disrespect and other Sandwings will plot the dragon's death if that Sandwing doesn't kill the dragon.

Sandwings take marriage seriously before the ceremony, but all marriages are considered another festival that has been known to last weeks. A honeymoon isn't necessary due to the weeks long festivities. This is the longest another dragon will see a Sandwing be open about their emotions.

Drawing Inspirations

Their bodies resemble an American Short Hair. These cats give the best build that would be similar to a Sandwing.

Sandwings having primarily desert reptile patterns would be the best, but other desert/savanna/badlands animals would work as well.

The behaviors resemble a more strict regimen household where showing emotions would cause the inhabitants to be severely reprimanded.

Bearded dragons/toads are great for references for the expansion of the neck plates expanding.

Wings of Fire Headcanon List

Skywings

Icewings

Mudwings

Leafwings

Hivewings

Silkwings