#green fluorescent protein

[katiajewelbox]

The confocal microscope at Imperial College's Sir Alexander Fleming Building lab is used for imaging the interior of living plant and animal cells.

During my PhD project, I used the confocal microscope to view the interior of Nicotiana benthamiana plant cells which were expressing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) tagged genes of interest. I aimed to find out where the proteins encoded by the genes of interest were localised in the plant cell, which turned out to be in the cytoplasm.

From Wikipedia's entry on Confocal Microscopy: "Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a spatial pinhole to block out-of-focus light in image formation. Capturing multiple two-dimensional images at different depths in a sample enables the reconstruction of three-dimensional structures (a process known as optical sectioning) within an object. This technique is used extensively in the scientific and industrial communities and typical applications are in life sciences, semiconductor inspection and materials science. Light travels through the sample under a conventional microscope as far into the specimen as it can penetrate, while a confocal microscope only focuses a smaller beam of light at one narrow depth level at a time. The CLSM achieves a controlled and highly limited depth of field."

Music by the Fiechter Brothers

Images by Katia Hougaard & the Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy at Imperial College London

[ceruleanmoonjellies]

Scientists noticed the crystal jelly or Aequorea Victoria would glow green when agitated and glows green under a UV light and that led to advancements in science. After researching the jellyfish and trying to find out the reason it glowed then Osamu Shimomura discovered GFP. They isolated the green fluorescent protein or GFP and cloned it for scientific use. GFP wasn’t perfect and lost its color all the time and wasn’t ideal for more. Researcher Roger Tsien developed GFP variants that came in many different colors and were brighter than original GFP. These allowed researchers to observe more than one thing at a time, the world's leading hospitals use GFP to study all different sicknesses, breast cancer tumor tracking or HIV and even Alzheimer's This took decades of work and took much funding.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Figure 19.20A shows PIN1 distribution in the apex of a tomato plant expressing Arabidopsis PIN1 fused to GFP. The leaf trace emerging from the leaf primordium initial (P0) has connected to the existing leaf trace of the leaf primordium below it (P3), as shown diagrammatically in Figure 19.20C. However, if P3 is surgically removed, the leaf trace from P0 connects instead to the vascular bundle of the leaf primordium on the other side of the stem (P2) (Figure 19.20B and D).

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

[ahqkas]

hey goergous!! I've been BINGING your writing on the batboys and I absolutely love them!! Is there a chance you can do Costco runs with the batboys? Weird idea but I was just at Costco and was thinking about it hahaha!! Thank you!!! ❤️🦇

♯HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU ( the batboys accompanying you to costco ! )

— gn!reader, bruce & dick & jason ( separated ), i had to google what costco is so i hope i got it right !! fluff, this is so short i’m sorry 😣

© ahqkas — all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are prohibited to be reposted, translated or modified

. . . BRUCE WAYNE !

THE MERE IDEA OF BRUCE WAYNE IN SUCH A SHOP WAS AS SURREAL AS ENDEARING. it happened during a simple saturday morning, still when many people were busy sleeping in, when you got to the task at your hand: grocery shopping.

you glanced over at your company, noting how his well tailored black sweater and dark jeans contrasted with the whole place and its contents. his classy clothing looked so out of place among the sea of puffy jackets, hoodies, and sneakers. yet, as always, he didn’t seem to mind. he almost looked comfortable ( if you could call the expression on his face by that word ) by your side, but you had your suspicions it was only because he was with you.

he pushed the cart with one hand, his other resting warmly on your lower back as he guided you through the place like he knew exactly where to go. you’d begged him to come with you—not because you couldn’t do it alone, but because you were curious about him in such a place. the idea of bruce wayne, a billionaire who owned sprawling estates and could have groceries delivered with a snap of his finger, was far too good to pass on.

bruce picked up a bulk-sized box of protein granola bars and studied it like he was deciphering a riddle from the riddler himself. “do we eat these?”

you tilted your head towards him, eyes flickering between his handsome face and the bars in his hands. he managed to look good even under those fluorescent lights. “i eat them. you inhale them after your patrols.

a flicker of smirk danced on his lips while his free arm tightened around your waist, tossing the box into the cart with a nod of his head. “point taken, sweetheart.”

. . . DICK GRAYSON !

the idea to shop at costco was his.

it was funny to watch him move through the shop, one hand pushing the cart while he held your hand with the other. ( “costco? are you kidding? i love costco,” he’d said with excitement filling his voice, practically dragging you out the door before you could protest. ) . now, you were strolling through various aisles with your boyfriend. dick was dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans, although you knew he was hiding his suit under the casual clothes. his blue eyes sparkled whenever he discovered something that was ‘essential’ for your home.

“do we really need a 10 pound tub of peanut butter?”

“we do now.”

it was nice seeing him like this, doing normal things like shopping for once. he scanned the rows of fresh fruit like a normal guy instead of the acrobatic vigilante who swung through blüdhaven’s skyline every night. dick picked up a bag of green apples and tossed it into the cart. they’d bruise, no doubt. “do you approve of these?”

“i approve of anything that gets you to eat actual food instead of protein bars and instant noodles,” you pinched his biceps, feeling the muscle flex under your touch.

he swatted your hand away. “hey, i make a mean bowl of mac and cheese.”

“you mean you open a mean box of mac and cheese.”

dick shrugged with an ashamed smile on his face, hand reaching out and picking up a tub of pre-cut pineapple. “there. that’s balance right here. carbs and fruit. meal prep done.”

. . . JASON TODD !

THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR GROANED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF WHAT FELT LIKE AN ENTIRE GROCERY STORE as jason hefted yet another bag onto his shoulder, the plastic handles straining under the bulk of sparkling water. his leather jacket creaked with the movement, and a few stray strands of his dark hair fell across his forehead as he turned to you with a playful look on his face.

“explain to me again,” he drawled out lowly, “why two people need this much stuff?”

you shrugged your shoulders and leaned casually against the car while sipping your iced coffee, looking far too pleased with yourself ( which you kinda were ). “because it’s costco, jay. you don’t go in for just a few things. you go in, black out, and come out with a year’s supply of paper towels and enough food to survive the apocalypse.”

your boyfriend huffed a laugh at that, shaking his head as he grabbed another bag, this one balanced with a carton of eggs and a bag of frozen chicken nuggets. “pretty sure you’re prepping for more than just the apocalypse. you’ve got enough granola bars in here to feed an entire boy scout troop.”

“don’t act like you’re not going to eat half of those on your next patrol.”

jason ate like he was the entire boy scout troop.

“fair point,” he admitted and you watched as his lips twitched into a smirk. jason had this way of making even the most normal activities feel like they were charged with a kind of electricity. the way he moved, the way he joked — it all carried that signature side of him.

[iamred-iamyellow]

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ Hot Girls Study Hard

♥ masterlist | request rules

♥ pairing: oscar piastri x fem!reader

♥ synopsis: school has been kicking your ass lately so you decided to attempt an all nighter, but when your beloved boyfriend oscar comes home from a long day of pr, he finds you passed out on your notes.

♥ wc: 0.7k - as always none of the pictures are mine <3

♥ warnings: one tiny suggestive joke and fluffy fluff !!!

♥ a/n: this is totally not inspired by my real life… haha

-07:30 AM-

A breeze of cool air hit your body as you stepped out of a steaming shower and wrapped yourself up in a white fluffy towel. The scent of a vanilla candle filled the bathroom as you scratched your head and reached for your skincare. You put on two green eye patches and walked into your bedroom, scrunching your hair with a blue microfiber cloth.

“Good morning…?” Oscar said in a groggy voice, rubbing his eyes. The fluorescent light from the bathroom illuminated his tired expression and messy brown hair.

“You’re not usually up for another hour or so…” he trailed off, watching you search your shared dresser for clothes.

“I’m trying to get a head start on school today,” you whispered, grabbing a pair of shorts and a black crewneck.

He hummed and rolled over. You could clearly tell how tired he was from the previous day of hard training.

“You can go back to sleep, love. Sorry if O woke you,” you whispered to him.

“No, no, don’t apologize,” he said sweetly. “I’ll be up in a few minutes,” he smiled.

You made a double shot of espresso to keep yourself awake for the exhausting upcoming day. Balancing school and work was no easy task, especially now that you've fallen behind due to a short trip you took to watch your boyfriend race.

Oscar walked out of your room in his McLaren gear as you sipped your coffee through the cold metal straw. His hands slithered onto your hips and he pressed you back onto the marble counter as he kissed your soft lips.

You smiled against him as he pulled away and grabbed a bottle of water from behind you.

He opened the fridge to find his meal prep, “Don’t overwork yourself, yeah? Take a few breaks, you’ve got this,” he said, encouraging you.

“You too," you nodded. "We don't want you to be too tired for the race this weekend. Or too tired for other things..." you trailed off with a smile.

Oscar shook his head and laughed, pausing from mixing his protein shake. You raised your eyebrows suggestively and laughed along while walking over towards your dining room table.

You had already set up a workspace the night before, including your laptop, textbooks, notes, and all the stationary needed for your projects (or rather the stationary you shamelessly bought to make schooling more fun).

Osc came around the kitchen island and kissed you on the top of your head, "Wishing you luck as always."

"You too," you smiled.

The minute he stepped out of the front door you let out a long sigh, mentally preparing yourself for the long day ahead.

-

-10:23 PM-

“Y/n I’m home,” Oscar said, stepping through the front door quietly. He scratched his head and walked through the hall of your apartment into the kitchen. A small light was on but there was no sight of you or your textbooks.

He made his way into the bedroom to find you passed out on your notes. Your calico cat was curled up by your feet in a deep sleep as well. Oscar tiptoed around the room, assuring he won’t make too much noise and wake you up. He gently pulled your chair out from the desk, making sure he didn’t harm your cat or wake you up in the process. It was too late though.

You yawned quietly and lifted your head off the books, “Osc?”

Your eyelashes fluttered as your retinas adjusted to the darkness of the room.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered. “How was your day?”

“It was good,” you whispered back. “I think I got a lot done, but I don’t remember when I passed out, so maybe not,” you laughed softly.

Your boyfriend grabbed your hands and pulled you up into a standing position so he could hug you. He wrapped his arms around your legs and lifted you up, causing a small gasp to escape your lips.

He carried you over to your bed, one that was covered in blankets and large pillows. You watched intently as he took off his shirt and changed into some gray sweatpants before crawling onto the mattress and slipping himself under the covers next to you.

As he tried to pull you closer your cat leaped onto the bed and cuddled her way in between the two of you. You rested your head on Oscar's shoulder and closed your eyes but before you could fully drift off to sleep you heard a soft whispered, "I'm proud of you."

[typhlonectes]

Jolts from electric eels cause fish to absorb free-floating DNA

Zebrafish larvae took up genes for fluorescent proteins and began to glow after swimming with eels.

Think of it as a sort of superhero origin story for zebrafish:  Getting zapped by electric eels can allow them to acquire new DNA—and new abilities—researchers reported yesterday in PeerJ. Scientists working with genetic engineering sometimes use electricity to open temporary holes in cell membranes to allow foreign DNA to enter. To find out whether a version of this phenomenon can happen in nature, the team put electric eels (Electrophorus electricus, pictured) and larvae from zebrafish (Danio rerio) into a tank together, along with free-floating genes that code for a green fluorescent protein. After a day swimming amid the eels’ electric shocks, some larvae started to glow green, New Scientist reports, indicating their cells had taken in and begun to express the foreign genes. The newly acquired DNA degraded quickly—the larvae only glowed for about a week—but it caused scientists to wonder: Could a wild animal acquire genes in this way and pass them to its offspring? Researchers aren’t yet sure, but if so, they say it could introduce new mutations that influence the species’ evolution.

via: https://www.science.org/content/article/jolts-electric-eels-cause-fish-absorb-free-floating-dna

[zooophagous]

Trick or treat!

You get green fluorescent protein

[bestanimal]

Round 2 - Chordata - Leptocardii

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our first chordates belong to the class Leptocardii, commonly called “Lancelets.” This is a small class consisting of one family, Branchiostomatidae, and 32 known species.

Lancelets are “fish-like”, filter-feeding, invertebrate chordates. Their body is translucent, without any limbs, and one poorly developed tail fin. They are not strong swimmers (see gif below). They have “gill-slits” that are for feeding only, not respiration. Their mouths consist of oral cirri: tentacle-like strands that act as sensory devices and filter water as it passes through the body. Most of their time is spent half-buried in the sand of the ocean floor, with their front end protruding, filtering plankton into their mouths and gill-slits. They have multiple light receptors which include Joseph cells, Hesse organs, a single anterior eye, and a lamellar body. Lancelets biofluoresce green inside their oral tentacles and near their eye spot. Some species also glow from the tail and gonads. These green fluorescent proteins may play a role in attracting plankton towards their mouth. Lancelets have a notochord but no skeleton, other than some cartilage stiffening their gill slits, mouth, and tail. They are relatively small, around 2.5 to 8 cm (1.0–3.1 inches) long.

All lancelet species seem to have males and females, though rare instances of hermaphroditism have been reported in two species. One species, Branchiostoma belcheri, was documented transforming from female to male. They reproduce via external fertilization, and only during their spawning season, which varies between species. Shortly after sunset, spawning lancelets will release eggs and sperm into the water column. Upon hatching, larvae are asymmetrical, with a mouth and anus on one side of their body and gill slits on the other. After metamorphosis, they become more symmetrical, though there are still some asymmetrical internal organs.

Lancelets may provide insight into the origin of vertebrates. They contain many similar organs to modern fish, albeit in primitive forms. Fossil chordates, such as Pikaia and Cathaymyrus from the Cambrian, and Palaeobranchiostoma from the Permian, have been suggested to be closely related to lancelets. However, modern lancelets probably did not appear until the Cretaceous or even Cenozoic and, despite their primitive form, are likely more derived than we first thought.

(bonk)

Propaganda under the cut:

Bioluminescence:

(source)

Idk they’re just really weird okay. These things are closer related to us than octopuses are and they’re just kinda… little grass blades made of flesh. They are if a chordate was a worm. They are invertebrates cosplaying as fish.

[hellsite-proteins]

i have only made a few structures for this account so far, but i'm quickly realizing that none of these text posts really look like anything. so, here are a few of my favourite real proteins for your enjoyment!

Sonic Hedgehog

this is probably one of the most famous examples of a protein with a pop culture name. it was first discovered in fruit flies, but also exists in humans and is important in embryonic development. because of its relevance to serious health conditions, the name has been highly criticized

structure:

ATP Synthase

we all know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, but that doesn't fully take into account how cool it is! ATP is the 'energy currency' of the cell, and is synthesized using a proton gradient and this awesome motor of a protein. the best way to understand it is by watching animations like this video.

structure:

BiP

this is a chaperone in the endoplasmic reticulum, which basically means it binds to proteins as they are synthesized and translocated into the ER lumen, allowing them to slowly fold into the correct shape. chaperones in general are really neat, but this one has the bonus of sounding cool, and gets bonus points for being inside the endomembrane system instead of just out in the cytosol.

structure:

GFP

this fluorescent protein was originally found in jellyfish, but exists in other animals as well, and gives off green fluorescence when exposed to UV light. it is commonly used in research to tag and visualize things, and E. coli cells expressing GFP are visibly green when grown on a plate (I've worked with them and they look very cool!) this protein has a beta barrel, and the parts around it have been modified to create new versions with different colours

structure:

Prion protein

the prion protein is naturally expressed, but its function is unknown. however, it is best known due to prion disease, which is caused by misfolded versions of the protein that spread destruction like an infectious agent as they cause nearby healthy proteins to become misfolded. this causes conditions including chronic wasting disease in deer, mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. prions constantly change their structure unless they are bound to something else, which forms a very stable structure. this then continues to bind other proteins, eventually forming an aggregate that damages tissue.

structure:

all of these structures were downloaded from pdb and the structures are linked

[itsthatmff]

Taking you out on a date ||| Genos, Garou, Metal bat

Appreciation post for the teen trio of opm 🤭

She/her pronouns used!

Requests are open anytime <3

Genos

“I apologize, I must have disappointed you.”

Poor boy literally spent DAYS analyzing your likes and dislikes in order to take you out to the perfect date, as you both made plans to go out on the weekend.

He spent so much time trying to sort out potential places to go that he ended up with nothing on the day you both wanted to go out.

He stood there, in front of your door about to pick you up, with the guiltiest expression on his face. (Well as guilty as a cyborg can look, ykwim)

says sorry for about 100 times before he shuts his mouth. You literally have to stop him mid sentence for his explanations to end.

“IT’S OKAY- you could have just asked me where i want to go instead of making it so hard for you. I like Aquariums, why don’t we go there?”

“Oh.”

Feels like the most stupid (person) in the world at that moment. Had he known it was this easy, he probably wouldn’t have gone through such lengths. (He would have. Cuz boy doesn’t realize that he’s in love with you.)

Usually Genos is pretty blunt and forward, i guess that’s why trying to come up with something was so hard for him. For the first time, trying to ask you directly didnt cross his mind, as he wanted to make you happy all by himself.

You both spent the rest of the day at the aquarium, with you admiring the sea animals, and him admiring you. He realized after a while that his gaze was stuck on you, and definitely made a mental note to ask dr. Kuseno if there was something wrong in his system.

EVERY TIME YOU MENTIONED THAT AN ANIMAL LOOKED CUTE, HE PAMPERED YOU WITH INFORMATION ON THAT SPECIFIC ANIMAL.

Like the tension would be all romantic, you’d be looking at glowing jellyfish, and he’d be staring at you, smiling a tinsy bit. Then you’d say something like “look Genos! That jellyfish looks so cute!” And the next second, Genos would turn into a search engine.

“That’s an Aequorea victoria, also sometimes called the crystal jelly. It’s a bioluminescent hydrozoan jellyfish, or hydromedusa. It can be found off the west coast of North America. The species is best known as the source of aequorin, and green fluorescent protein-“

“Okay- thats enough genos.”

All in all, it would be a pretty fun date! Genos would end the day by saying “I really enjoyed going out with you, Y/N-san. Next time I will take you out to someplace even better. No mistakes allowed.”

Garou

“What are you looking at? Don’t you like it?”

Guy heard “let’s go on a date!” And rolled with it.

Though his idea of a “date” might look a bit different.

100 percent took advantage of it when you said “let’s go somewhere you like”

So of course y’all ended up in an all you can eat buffet.

And he won’t be paying for it 💀 (the fee might look a “bit” expensive, make sure you take a good amount of money with you)

Chugs down a plate after the other, so at least the money isn’t wasted.

Once he sees your kind of upset face, he stops taking bites of that real good steak and looks at you confused.

You were happy to spend time with him, you really were, But this just wasn’t what you thought it out to be. Of course you expected it to be at least a LITTLE romantic, even though he wasn’t your boyfriend yet, nor did he know that you liked him.

But sorry to disappoint you, romance is a foreign word for this oblivious man.

If you tell him how you feel about the date though, he’ll give you the widest smirk “you’re happy to spend time with me?” Completely ignoring everything else you said

Once y’all are done eating, he’ll make sure to walk you home, if you’re cold he’ll even hold you. So that’s at least something ?

You have to be REALLY forward and blunt with him, or else all he’ll do is tease you.

If you really wanna make him blush just straight up hold his hand, he won’t do nun. Yelling at you or hurting you is an absolute no for him.

Metal bat

“My sister suggested this place, ya like it?”

Metal bat pretty much has all the knowledge he needs when it comes to girls, as he has to take out and hang out with his little sister a lot.

Most of the time it’s shopping malls where his sister drags him from shop to shop for hours.

So like once they were both shopping for a cute little bag because Zenko had won a piano competition and big brother was proud asf 🤭 and ofc she had realized that he’d be mentioning this one girl from time to time.

“Big bro, why don’t you just take her out on a date?”

But like, we’re talking about a little kid here, so her advice may not be as fitting 😭 she literally only gave him tips on where SHE would like to go.

“If I were her I’d love to be taken to an amusement park, and then he should win me a big unicorn plushy !”

But Metal bat loves his sister more than anything, AND he has 2 brain cells so ofc he’d listen to her, thinking it’d be the best date idea.

A couple days later (he especially took a day off from work for you and told the HQ that they shouldnt call him even if there’s an emergency) he takes you out saying it’s a “surprise”, but once you both stand in front of the amusement park, your reaction isn’t quite what he expected.

It was an kids amusement park. ALL of the rides were fit in for children.

You were happy of course, but metal bat expected you to be fawning over him by now. (That’s what zenko at least told him. Quoting “she’ll be head over heels once you both arrive big brother!”)

“Why are we at an kids amusement park ?”

“My sister recommended it”

“…”

“…”

“Makes sense.”

Well you both already got tickets so all you could do was make the best out of it.

At least the food was good! Metal bat bought you candied apples, chocolate strawberries, cotton candy, everything you laid your eyes on.

And he got you lots of plushies, like, LOTS of plushies.

The kids there did recognize Him tho, so it took a while to get away from the crowd of children wanting autographs and photos.

Metal bat ends up feeling like he ruined your date, so you can see him being kinda upset, after cheering him up though, you both promise to go to a place that both of you could enjoy next time.

He literally has to hold himself back not to spit out the words “i love you” cuz you looked so adorable on that day. (Especially eating the cotton candy)

[sokoneedsagun]

Batfamily mer au

Bruce - Tiger shark

Tiger sharks are generally a solitary species, the coloring fits him (usually grey with darker grey stripes, although the stripes fade as they get older), they’re one of the largest species of shark and just like have you seen Bruce?

Kate - Stingray

Stingrays are actually the closest relatives to sharks, so since Kate is Bruce’s cousin I think it would make sense for her to be something similarly related to sharks while not being a shark herself. Some stingrays have specialized jaws that allow them to crush sculls, and I think that sounds cool for one thing and for another could be kind of fitting considering that Kate has killed. Some stingrays are also able to change color over the course of a few days to adapt to their habitats, so I kind of imagine Kate being a brownish red color or a dark grey, stingrays also tend to be non-aggressive to humans until they’re threatened

Dick - Redtoothed Triggerfish

So first of all the coloring was enough. But these fish also always seem to be grinning which exposes their red teeth, similar to how child Dick would fucking laugh during fights and stuff, something that should be cute but is a little objectively terrifying. They’re also more peaceful than other triggerfish but can become more violent/aggressive with age, they have a special swimming style because of the shape of their fins, many of them are solitary but some of them stay in groups

Barbara - Crystal Jelly

They’re a species of jellyfish create a green fluorescent protein and two different bioluminescent proteins which causes its green-blue coloring (I’m colorblind, that’s how I saw it described), they’re almost entirely transparent and colorless, these jellyfish were the reason a 2008 Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded, one of the main reasons I picked jellyfish for Barbra though is that jellyfish don’t swim in a traditional way. The only way a jellyfish can swim is by squeezing the top of their body (the bell) and ejecting water in the opposite direction to push themselves forward, and even with that they’re some of the most efficient swimmers in the entire ocean. And idk, I really like the fact that when dc actually let Barbra be disabled they gave her actual limitations but she still found ways to work with them and still be herself, so in an au like this where it would realistically be a bit harder for her then other batfamily members it kinda made sense to me

Jason - red-tailed black shark

So these actually aren’t sharks at all they’re closer related to carp, but they’re extremely small (Robin!jason?) around 6 inches (16 cm), they’re very territorial and harass other fish when they enter their territory, juveniles tend to be calmer then adults

Cass - Blacktip reef shark

Genuinely one of my favorite sharks. So usually blacktip reef sharks are fairly skittish and avoid humans, but when humans wade into the water near them they do bite, they can be found up to 75 meters deep but usually stay in shallow waters, they’re generally a smaller species of shark and fall prey to things like tiger sharks, but they’re still an apex predator.

Tim - sockeye salmon

They’re a type of mainly red but also green salmon, they can be anywhere from 2 feet long to 2 foot 9, most sockeye salmon start out in freshwater as children before going to the ocean, then once again returning to freshwater as adults (so maybe Tim meeting the rest of the batfamily while going to the ocean and just staying)

Stephanie - Purple Tang

Just the color was enough to pick this for Steph, but some other reasons: younger purple tang are described as “cryptic” and tend to hide a lot which reminds me of the very beginnings of spoiler, while they can be generally peaceful others can be aggressive and territorial, and they’re very active fish

Duke - Pacific sea nettle

It was so hard to find a bioluminescent yellow jellyfish./lh they have a golden bell (kind of like the head) and can grow to be up to a meter, their carnivorous and use their tentacles and toxins to find food, and produce bioluminescent glow that lights up their tenticals

Damian - Spiny Dogfish

So despite the name this is actually a type of shark (I thought it would make sense for Damian to be a shark since Bruce is), they have two spines and there’s actually a comic series that gave Damian a replacement spine (we don’t talk about why. I’m only using the information for my benefit.), the spines are used defensively and they can arch their backs to pierce whatever is holding them and also make a venom, they hunt in packs up to a thousand and are very aggressive hunters (league maybe?)

I’m not actually (probably) writing a fic or anything about this, but if you are, feel free to use some of these!

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Figure 19.19A shows the SAM of a tomato plant expressing the Arabidopsis PIN1 protein fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP). (...) A model for midvein formation in Arabidopsis is shown in Figure 19.19B.

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

[bethanythebogwitch]

The modern world is nice, but sometimes you just get the urge to go primitive. Because I'm a complete wimp who would die within a day of giving up the internet, I'm going to deal with that urge by talking about primitive animals. It's Wet Beast Wednesday and I'm talking about lancelets.

(image: a lancelet. Not much to look at, are they?)

Lancelets, or amphioxi, are highly basal (close to the ancestral form) chordates that are vaguely similar to fish, but are vastly more primitive. They have all the characteristics of chordates, the key one being a notochord, a flexible rodlike structure that goes down the body. The majority of chordates that are still alive are vertebrates, who have incorporated the notochord into the spinal column. The other groups of surviving chordates are the tunicates (who I'll get to eventually) and the lancelets. Because lancelets are so primitive, they are used at model organisms representing an early stage of vertebrate evolution. It was originally thought that lancelets are remnants of an early lineage that eventually evolved into vertebrates. Genetic studies later showed that tunicates are actually more closely related to modern vertebrates than lancelets. They are still used as a model organism as they are a fantastic representation of early chordates. The similarity of lancelets to the 530 million year old Pikaia gracilens, one of the earliest known chordates, is one of the reasons they are such a useful model organism.

(image: a diagram of lancelet anatomy by Wikipedia user Systematicist)

Lancelets can be found all over the world, living in temperate to tropical shallow seas. The only known exception is Asymmetron inferum, which has been found around whale falls at 225 m (738 ft) deep. They are small animals, reaching around 8 cm at their largest. An amphioxus looks pretty worm-like, with a simple mouth at one end and a pointed tail at the other. The name amphioxus means "both (ends) pointed" which is a pretty appropriate description. The mouth is lined with tentacle-like threads called oral cilli, which are used for feeding. Lancelets are filter-feeders that use the cirri to filter plankton, microbes, and organic detritus. Water and food pass into the pharynx (back of the mouth), which is line with gill slits. This is where it gets weird. The gill slits aren't used for respiration, but for feeding. Mucus gets pushed through the gill slits by cilia, trapping the food and moving it deeper into the digestive tract. Not only to lancelets not use their gill slits to respirate, they actually don't have a respiratory system at all. Instead, they just absorb dissolved oxygen through their thin and simple layer of skin. Their circulatory system doesn't move oxygen around either as there is no heart or hemoglobin present. For what it's worth, they don't have a proper live either. When you look at a lancelet's anatomy, you can see similarities to fish anatomy, just much more primitive and with some parts missing.

(image: the head of a lancelet, with mouth and cilli visible)

Lancelets have 4 different systems used for vision. Two, the Joseph cells and Hesse organs, are simple photoreceptors that are on the notochord and detect light along the back of the animal. Imagine having a bunch of very simple yes on your spinal cord that can see through your skin. There is also a simple photoreceptor called the lamellar body (which confusingly is also the name of a type of lipid) and a single simple eye on the head. Speaking of light, lancelets are florescent, producing green light when exposed to blue to ultraviolet light. In all species, the proteins responsible for this are found around the cilii and eye, but some species also have them in the gonads and tail. The purpose for this florescence isn't exactly known, but a common hypothesis is that it helps attract plankton toward their mouths.

(image: an extreme close-up of a lancelet's cilli fluorescing)

Lancelets have seasonal reproduction cycles that occur in summer. Females release their eggs first, followed my males releasing sperm to fertilize them. Depending on species, spawning can either occur at specific times, or gradually throughout breeding season. Development occurs in several stages. In the frist stage, they live in the substrate, but they will quickly move into the water column to become swimmers. These swimming larvae practice diel vertical migration, traveling to the surface at night and returning to the seafloor in the day. While larvae can swim, they are still subject to the current and can be carried long distances. Adults retain their ability to swim, which is done by wriggling like an eel and in some cases, spinning around in a spiral fashion while moving forward. Unlike the larvae, adults spend most of their time buried in the substrate with only their heads exposed. They typically only emerge when mating or if disturbed.

(image: a diagram of the lancelet life cycle. source)

Because of their use as model organisms, humans have developed methods to keep and breed lancelets in captivity. The majority of research has been done on Branchiostoma lanceolatum, but several other species have been studied. Multiple species are endangered due to pollution and global warming. Several species are edible and can either be eaten whole or used as a food additive. In spring, when their gonads begin to develop for breeding season, they develop a bad flavor.

Mom: "we have garden eels at home". Garden eels at home:

(image: three lancelets sticking their heads out of the sediment)

[randomquadballpun]

DAY 0 (attempt no 1)

It all started out pretty harmless. That was: harmless measured by the Watson-Holmes household standards.

When John returned from work Monday evening, he expected to hear Sherlock and Rosie playfully debating the advantages of squared over lined paper for efficient note-taking or maybe the sound of the two of them battling each other on Rosies Nintendo Switch. Instead, he was greeted halfway up the stairs by hushed silence and a faint burnt smell in the air. Needless to say, he took the last couple of steps a little bit faster.

The picture that presented itself as he walked into the flat was both better and worse than what he had dreaded. His daughter and his boyfriend were leaning over the messy kitchen table, a bowl of ice, a stack of Petri dishes and a burning Bunsen burner between them. To give Sherlock credit, they were both wearing lab coats and gloves and Rosie had been additionally equipped with safety goggles and even wore her messy blond hair in a neat high ponytail to keep it out of the flames.

John let his groceries slide to the floor with a loud thump. "Alright, does anyone want to tell me what you two are doing here?"

Two pairs of startled wide eyes snapped over to him. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, as the two exchanged one quick and not at all ominous glance before starting to explain.

"We are making Ecollies glow green. That’s bacteria!", Rosie declared proudly.

Sherlock cleared his throat. "E.coli. I wanted to show Watson some fluorescing bacteria under the microscope and thought we could make a little lesson in molecular biology out of it. So we are cloning GFP into an expression vector and then transforming the E.coli with it."

"Er …“" John stared at him with a blank face while his mind tried to make sense of the information that had just been conveyed to him. "Alright?"

He could sense the eye roll even though his boyfriend did his best to suppress it – from the corner of his eye, he could see that Rosie had no such restraint. Sherlock clarified. "We are forcing bacteria to produce a protein that glows green under a special lamp. Green fluorescent protein - GFP. We have already put the gene for GFP into a piece of bacterial DNA and shuttled that DNA into the bacteria. Tomorrow morning we can have a first look at them under the microscope!"

That did make sense - sort of. "As long as you clean up properly after yourself. I don't want our toilet to start glowing green in a couple of days!", he reminded them sternly before he stooped down to pick up the bag with groceries again and squeezed past his two favourite mad scientists to deposit milk and butter in the fridge.

"Have you done your homework for tomorrow, sweetheart?"

There was an exaggerated groan behind him. "They are sooooo boring, Dad!"

This was not the first time that they had this discussion but Rosie did sound more like Sherlock anytime they did. "I am sorry, but you still got to do them!"

"Do I reaaaally have to though?"

He had to suppress a grin at the audible pout and tried to force a no-nonsense tone into his voice as he answered: "I told you, if Mrs Harkins asks for any extra parent-teacher conferences this year, I am going to send Sherlock, and no one is going to like the outcome of that." Everyone in the room winced at that prospect.

"I can show you how to do long division once we are done here, Watson. The experiment will only take another 10 minutes, we just have to spread out the bacteria over the agar plates now", Sherlock added in Johns direction.

The doctor nodded absentmindedly before faltering. "Wait, you remember how to do long division?"

This time Sherlock did roll his eyes at him, but with a grin that softened the effect. "No, calculators have been around since before I was born." He winked at Rosie but continued quickly when John shot him a warning glare. "However, I know that there is a tutorial for pretty much anything on YouTube nowadays. Rest assured, Watson and I are going to be able to puzzle out long division."

"Good, thank you." John let his gaze swipe once again over the biohazard that was their kitchen and made the executive decision that he could not be bothered with this tonight.

"How do you guys feel about ordering Pizza for dinner?"

"YES!" Rosie threw her hands in the air excitedly, barely missing the flame that was still dancing merrily between them and not in fact missing a rack of small plastic tubes that had been placed close by as well and was now clattering all over the tiled floor. "I want pineapple, artichokes and pepperoni on mine."

John caught a quick glance at his partners face before the other man dove under the table to hunt after the sample tubes. Well, no matter what the outcome of this experiment would be, at least Rosie had managed to make Sherlocks face glow faintly green tonight.

--------------------

Troubleshooting, part 1/?

-> Will this whole series be incredibly self-indulgent and nerdy - yes!

-> The next snippet can be found here!

[appalamutte]

Eric turns into the baking supplies aisle, tapping his thumb against the cart in rhythm with the Christmas music playing overhead.

He hadn’t intended to stop at the grocery store on his way home; after slipping on a patch of ice in front of a school field trip on his way to work, dropping and shattering his favorite work mug in the break room between meetings, and being told for the umpteenth time that another client has gone with another publisher, Eric, if you don’t start showing improvement then we’re going to have to look at other alternatives, all Eric wanted to do was go home and take a long, warm bath. Start that food critic’s memoir he picked up at a flea market a few weeks ago. Maybe—finally—clean out and reorganize his disaster of a spice cabinet, something to take his mind off things.

Just forget this day ever happened.

But then his editorial assistant accidentally deleted one of their client’s manuscripts while performing a mass exodus of unused files, and just like that, Eric went and cried in the bathroom because the day officially got worse than he ever thought it could get.

By some miracle, Dex down in IT had been able to find an old save of the file on the system’s hard drive. It didn’t have most of the notes Eric added for corrections or changes, nor did it have any of his assistant’s annotations. Really, it was the most bare-bones copy, but it was the entire manuscript in it’s most recent glory.

For that, Eric would’ve kissed Dex right then and there.

He loves Nursey too much to do that, though, so instead he did what he always does: he hugged Dex tightly, asked him what his favorite dessert was (snickerdoodle cookies), and at five o’clock he took the Green Line to West End and walked a few blocks to the best Whole Foods in Boston.

“Now you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eric murmurs, standing in front of the rather unfortunate-looking flour selection. Usually, there’s a complete inventory of all types—bread, whole wheat, all-purpose, self-rising, pastry—and that’s half of the reason Eric goes twenty minutes out of his way to shop here. Yet all that’s before him now is a couple of bags of all-purpose and a full row of cake flour.

Great. As if this day couldn’t get any better.

He pulls the shopping cart close as a family enters the aisle and considers his options. Normally, he prefers using a half-and-half combination of whole wheat and all-purpose, but after last week’s batch of pancakes, he’s out of whole wheat. He could get the cream of tartar and ground cinnamon now and stop at the Stop & Shop near his apartment for the flour, but that place is hit-or-miss at best, and with how his day’s going he doubts they’ll have any in stock either. 

Maybe he could forgo whole wheat flour this one time and just go with the all-purpose, but he really does love the taste it gives, not to mention it adds a bit more nutritional value. Nursey has been going on and on about how Dex is trying to eat healthier after losing his college-athlete physique, and—damn, maybe Eric should’ve offered to make something other than a dessert. Is it too late to call and ask if Dex would rather have some homemade protein bars? But then Nursey messaged Eric right before he left work with a bunch of crying emojis, thanking him and saying he was definitely going to steal some of the cookies from Dex, even though Eric’s pretty sure Dex would give Nursey most of them anyway, and—

“Bittle?”

Eric startles.

Looking up, he stares at the man before him for a moment before his heart skips a beat.

“Jack?” He asks dumbly, because it is Jack, standing there in an old, threadbare Samwell hoodie with a ball cap pulled low on his head. 

He’s a little soft around the edges and worn down in that way all professional athletes are after retirement, but he’s still unmistakably Jack Zimmermann with that small little quirk of a smile and the way his eyes are piercingly blue in the fluorescent lighting of the store. His hair still curls around the ear like it did whenever he used to let it grow out but there are flecks of gray in his temple now. His jaw, even after all these years, is still so pronounced but it’s not as sharp as it was back at Samwell, hidden under a layer of scruff. He’s still wearing god-awful yellow sneakers, except they’re a newer pair from a different brand, bright and spotless.

“Hey, Bittle,” Jack says, warmer and surer.

Eric uncrosses his arms. “Jack,” he says again, feeling himself smile, “gosh, I can’t believe it’s—it’s been so long! Jack! How are you?”

On a reflex, Eric steps forward to hug Jack, and there’s this absolutely mortifying moment where he realizes he’s going to hug Jack Zimmermann, the Jack Zimmermann he hasn't spoken to in seven years, the Jack Zimmermann he hasn't seen outside of the NHL Network in ten.

But then Jack meets him halfway, pulling him into a hug with both arms wrapped around Eric’s shoulders, and it’s like the last decade never happened, the weight rolling off his shoulders as easily as could be. It’s like Eric’s back in Providence, back in Samwell. It’s Jack’s apartment and the front porch of the Haus and the bed of Coach’s truck in the thick Georgia humidity.

(It’s being in love with your best friend.)

“I’m good,” Jack says, his chest rumbling. “Great, actually.”

He pats Eric’s shoulder once and with that, they pull away from one another. “That’s good,” Eric says, pulling his shopping cart closer so he can lean an elbow against the handle. “How’s retirement been? It’s been, gosh, almost a year now?”

“Just about. It'll be a year this February."

“You miss it?”

Jack tilts his head. “Eh,” he drawls out, “honestly yeah, I do. But, well…”

He gestures down toward his knee, and it takes Eric a few seconds to remember that Jack's retirement had more to do with an unfortunate check and less to do with the fact he was thirty-seven. Eric immediately backtracks. “Oh, shit—lord, excuse my language, I didn’t mean—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Jack chuckles, shoving his hands into his pockets. “The knee has its days, but besides that, it's good as new.” He pauses. “Sort of.”

Eric’s blushing ‘till high noon, he’s sure of it. "Well that's good, then," he says.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas starts playing overheard and they stare at each other for another awkward beat. Finally, Jack clears his throat. “But, uh, how have you been? I think Shitty said you were at…Morris…”

“Morris Press,” Eric says, pulling at the skin between his thumb and forefinger, mentally slapping his cheeks. He’s usually never this bad with talking. “But yeah! I’ve been there for six years or so now, it’s a really great job. Helping others do what I always dreamed of is just, you know, a really fulfilling feeling.”

“I bet,” Jack says, and he’s got the little smile on his face again.

Another, not-as-awkward beat.

“I mean, I never thought I’d go into publishing, but…,” Eric starts, and he doesn’t mean to ramble, really; it’s an accidental slip that he starts going on about his job and his coworkers, the projects he’s helped publish, how publishing his own cookbook right out of Samwell led to now, just talking Jack’s poor ear off in the middle of the store. Jack gives his little comments here and there, like he used to, and doesn’t once make Eric feel like he’s holding him, and that—that’s exactly why Eric finds he can’t stop himself. The easiness of it, how natural and comfortable it is. How the warmth of a dormant love flares somewhere in Eric’s chest because it’s different but it’s not. 

He doesn’t stop until an older woman cuts in asking to get to the flour, and Eric takes a breath. “Goodness, I rambled there,” he laughs. “I suppose things haven’t changed all that much.”

Jack hums, looking at Eric with this unreadable, nearly intense expression that Eric would describe as soft, probably. If he looked into it too much. He’s nearly about to let Jack go so he can go home and panic-bake a pie and call Lardo about this entire day when Jack suddenly says: “Would you want to get coffee or lunch or—or something, sometime?”

Eric falters.

Then he decides that, maybe, this day isn’t a total bust.