chemistrydoc
3386762
11496
65
This is an animation of DNA replication by DNA polymerase and accurately shows the function of all its subunits.
Feb 21, 2014 3:47 PM
chemistrydoc
3386762
11496
65
AwesomeOtter
My lecturer showed us this video in class. Girl behind me whispered "That's disgusting!" when it came on.
kellovesorangesoda
I came
PeaceAndFlowers
I had my freaking bio exam at noon today... NOON. @chemistrydoc a little sooner next time PLEASE
CheerilyTossesRum
Leading strand is all, "Why you gotta make a fuss about everything, lagging strand?"
Thesavagehamster
fukkin' lagging strands amirite?
queenoflurking
I'm not smart enough to know what's happening here.
Thunderball007
I JUST watched this in genetics class today!!!!!
Thunderball007
I JUST watched this in genetics class today!!!!!
skeyz
I've seen enough hentai etc.
Chokehold
Can we get a PhD in here?
thewaitwasworthit
Who knew fuzzy pompoms and pipe cleaners were the building blocks of DNA.
sendmeyourbriskets
Beats the hell out of any post about a lot of people trying to play the same pokemon game at the same time. +1
turbodog
The floating green thing reminds me of Slimer from ghostbusters. Which concludes my expertise on this subject.
OrionRed
lol, they spelled CGAATTACAGGATTAGCACAGGTAAGGCAATTAAGGCCCATTAATTAATTTAAAACCAGGGAAACCTAATATATTCCACCAGGATAGATGACATGACATAGACGATAGACGTGG wrong.
discohaylie
Pff, I do this all the time.
RunsWithShortShorts
Obligatory "unzip your genes" joke here
Smackdaba
Think you mean *recharges watch*
MoooMooo
I_wish_I_were_a_helicase_so_I_could_unzip_your_jeans.pdf .... I also love me some subjunctive tense
DNAhelicase
Once in awhile, I'm relelephant!
IamSprots
*sigh* * unzip*
sowaitwhatdidyousaytome
Your "gene" shorts....?
MagicalUnicornFarts
nooooooooo
kingofcrows
my helices subunit beta is about to make a conformational change...
manslut
As a grad student working in Microbial Genetics... YUSSSSSSSSSSS.
Toast5678
sigh... *unzips genes*
GBMaker
Clever!
mysticalcelestialcomputer
I'm two weeks away from taking the Praxis II for Middle School Science, OP. Thanks for a sweet animation to add to my study resources!
chemistrydoc
God bless you for teaching science. We need more great science teachers.
BrumpoTungus
This made my nucleotides the big nucleotides.
DevByTradeAndLove
Dat shit cray.
Sakkura
Just wait till you hear how much DNA a human has. Enough to reach to the Sun and back... 33 times.
HobieKopek
You misspelled "Dan." Twice.
ninjapleaseme
ScruffyLookinScoundrel
holy shit I remember learning about this in A-Level Biology, and finding it fascinating but this tops it all! Awesome!
thedirtypaw
can you link something resembeling an explanation in lamens terms please ? :D
chemistrydoc
This is pretty well written. Definitely covers the basics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_replication
liveslowdiewheneverr
but have you seen a motor protein? http://imgur.com/VwZQYcE
EndersShadow
Should have been "bitch I'm fabulous"
bodymassagemachineGO
seriously the fucking coolest thing ever.
RedIvan
That's one ballin' protein.
theseventh
I fucking love kinesin. Best of all the proteins.
buthowdoIkarma
I guess this is cool...PS you talk in your sleep.
liveslowdiewheneverr
hey, you smell.
dwkindig
What's even more amazing, it's not like any of this "knows" to be doing this. It's as much a machine as a robotic assembly line is.
Dovaskus
Which proves we are more or less self replicating biocomputers
labrat
Sometimes, I try to imagine the complexity of all the happenings in a single cell and how none of the molecules "know" to do any of it.
squiddna
We're taught that cells are water balloons with the odd molecule inside, but they're all jammed in there with very little water. So (1/2)
squiddna
..things are just kind of banging around inside the cell until they run into something that fits. Amazing. (2/2)
labrat
It's all form fits function and it blows my mind.
ChillaAquila
Dude, we're all just a bunch of 'mindless' cells studying how cells work. How many cells does it take to attain consciousness?
Catamaran
Trippy to think about where exactly the robotic physics/chemistry ends, and the conscious decisions begin.
dwkindig
I'm not convinced the conscious decisions ever begin. :/
IHaveNoIdeaWhatImLettingMyselfInFor
This is awesome, as a Biology student- thankyou OP!
OneToInfinity
I saw this exact thing about 4 months ago in biology. Took us like 5 minutes to figure out what it was when our teacher showed us.
chemistrydoc
swedishsquish
There are dozens of us!!
AeroWalrus
I want to see one for RNA transcription
dingleberriesshingleberries
Watching an egg's membrane depolarize Ca2+ with fluorescence is cool too
bodymassagemachineGO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MfSYnItYvg here ya go! there's one for translation as well!
Darjanator
LISTEN TO ME! I HAVE FOUND THE SAUCE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=OjPcT1uUZiE
EyeOneTwoFarQ
.
weetu
Awesome!
rozzledozzle
THANK YOU!
chemistrydoc
This is happening in every cell in your entire body. This process happens with an error every 1,000,000 or so bases. So beautiful.
LogicalPeanut
OP's name needs to be biologydoc for this post
[deleted]
[deleted]
haikon
not even close
HillOfBeans
You're not just a great punster! This is fascinating, thank you.
housewife
All your base are belong to us.
starstuffninja
That's just with the built-in mechanisms, our error- checking systems make it more like 1 in 1,000,000,000
chemistrydoc
Pretty amazing stuff my friend. Molecular miracles are prevalent in the molecules of life.
iN1CKY
How much slower than this does it really happen? Or is this the correct speed?
chemistrydoc
It it the correct speed. Search Drew Berry body code on youtube for the full videos.
Welley
My gf showed me this about 4 years ago when she had to study genetics. Awesome gif!
thewildplum
What happens when there IS an error?
swedishsquish
I think you forgot about nerve cells, and all the other cells stuck in G0 :)
DrPerryUCox
It's also about 6 years old. Saw this in undergrad in2008
IGotMilk
My prof used this for Chemistry class.
dorman13
Is this gif the same speed as the actual process or slowed down or sped up?
WhitePeoplePickles
wait... ARE YOU MY PROFESSOR?!
CaptainButtbeard
How horny are you right now?
WhitePeoplePickles
Are you in my class? We watched this the other day in my class.
flamecoloredskies
If you listen closely, you can hear OP getting off to this.
Kanigula
Is funny how my professor used this same animation in the class last week
Zedra234
Do you teach biology as well? I'm doing this currently in my HL Biology class Internation Baccalaureate
chemistrydoc
I am quite fluent in biology. Got a BA in the subject in addition to my chemistry degree.
bigtuna1125
In some cells yes, but in a lot of them this isn't happening ever again.
DeadlyRicochet
wait? with and error? what is this error? :o
masonmop
Sometimes DNA isn't copied exactly perfectly. Every now and then the wrong base is put in, or one is left out, or an extra one is put in.
DeadlyRicochet
and then we become Xmen, right?
masonmop
There are some pretty cool mutations out there (check out myotonic hypertrophy), but odds are if it's going to do anything it'll be cancer.
Zedra234
This error, is a mutation?
chemistrydoc
Only if it is not fixed by other molecular machines whose job is to locate and repair the errors.
Zedra234
Do you have any websites / resources that can help me with my course? :)
chemistrydoc
Just do some Google searches. There is plenty of good stuff on the web related to this topic.
Chrisgopher
I am become error.
thomaseeno
Mine only error every 10,000,000 or so bases, so there.
jerseytom
Puts six sigma to shame
ChuckNorrisAteMySock
Fun fact: you get cancer almost once a day. Your body usually terminates those cells before they cause damage, though.
PancakeChampion
This is basically what I work on at my job (the animation). Thanks for posting!
chemistrydoc
I want your job. How do I get to do that? Seriously...that is awesome.
Skiafluff
and that's where cancer comes from.
youtheman
My bio teacher showed us this earlier in the year...it was extremely helpful in the understanding of DNA! Favorited for sure.
RexSociety
It's also pretty amazing that it can make 1000 nucleotides per second
Liv82
Reminds me of this:
Magnivore
I think I'm one big error.
theAyinOK
Been watching for an hour now. Still haven't seen this "error".
snaakes
i might cry
NSAgent
*Allegedly. There is this book....
labrat
I show this video to my students when I teach cell division! They also have similarly great transcription and translation animations.
chemistrydoc
You know that I know about those. Beautiful done work indeed. Drew Berry is the animator.
DarthDragon7
They must get confused as we get older then.
ShamrockFury
Not in my body.
DragonMouse
As a bio-major thanks for putting this on here :)
phallicfallacy
#TYBG
Asadachi
you just gave my biochemist wife a lady boner, watch it you!
Terannosaurusrex
Beautiful indeed, personally I've always enjoyed viral cell attachment animations..but that can be next week's lesson.
sugarinwater
Dat Okazaki fragment....Hngggggggh..
MyLifeForTheHorde
what mean?
Newphonewhodiz
As a genentist +1
TheNextBestUsername
Do we understand the cause of the replication errors, Doc? Also, 1:1M seems very high. That's ~3k errors per full replication. Staggering.
sorrybutt
god. duh. ass.
DrMardini
2/2 normal healthy dna ends up with 1x10^-9ish of errors that stay after DNA repair
amandil
the errors in replication occur because of substitution mutations where the wrong base is added and not detected by checking enzymes
DrMardini
the errors are fixed there are a number of processes to either fix the errors or throw out the cells. A mutation here increases cancer risk
shwibbityshwat
Only if it occurs in a tumor supressing gene or something like that, most errors occur in meaningless DNA and are inconsequential
DrMardini
Read my comment again, that's basically what I said
amandil
well the majority of errors occur in so called 'junk DNA' and the majority of those are silent mutations which have no effect 1)
ninmonkey
But I thought 'junk dna' was an incorrect explanation of what happens.
amandil
junk DNA is anything that doesn't code for a protein-so regulator genes, loads of remnant DNA and a lot we don't understand
RandomKnowledgeNugget
It's misleading, many regulatory regions are located in the introns among other functions we've yet to discover.
chimalli
Looks like making jewelry...
Yamasama
Can we make this a thing? Cell machinery once a week. Dynein motors next? Maybe one of my students will learn something here.
DrMardini
and its interesting to note that >99% of those errors are fixed, such that the total error rate is 1x10^-9 or so.
ToxicPineapple
How are the errors fixed? Is there some form of checksum or something?
TheScottishPirate
Yet I still miss spelling mistakes when proof reading my assignments! The mysteries of nature eh?!
temerairewindragon
Awww, I wanted to say something like that. So you get an exception! Xeroderma Pigmentosum!
blewinfromstupidtown
Nice~ last semester I did a genetics presentation on Cockayne Syndrome, which related to XP.
SnowTheWarrior
Wait, if I do cocaine I get experience points? BRB.
DrMardini
tough disease, verytough disease.
Naseth
CHEMISTRY DOC! Thanks for this, been awhile since I saw you comment on anything. I must not be looking hard enough.
iLoveItWhenMyFingersSmellLikePussy
Not only did he comment.. he POSTED this!
chemistrydoc
You can subscribe to my comments. Step 1) Go to my profile Step 2) Click comments Step 3) Look at them. Just busting your balls/ovaries.
Naseth
Ovaries busted; will stop cyber stalking the Chemistry Doc
YourOldComments
ovaralls
Cerinna
I've watched this thing for soooo long way back when I had cell biology.
wawaweewee
414 points for a categorically wrong statement?! Erythrocytes don't even have a nucleus for crying out loud. :)
MyDarkPassenger
Do you go to Case, because our professor showed us this animation literally 2 weeks ago
graehall
It's evolution, baby.
MRBEEFCAKE
Science? I know better than to trust scientists. This is a hoax.
Darjanator
Aaaand.... evolution!
mK33f
the cancer cell
[deleted]
[deleted]
chemistrydoc
I have a BA in biology and chemistry. Ph.d leaned more towards biochemistry.
guywithwifi
Sorry... Mister Doctor Professor Patrick
haikon
Nope, definitely not happening in most cells in my body. Most cells in the adult human are stuck in G0 phase, not using DNA replication
RookieMove
Wrong. An adult humans entire body (with the exception of nerve cells) is replaced every 10 or less years
haikon
not 100% sure about that, but think about how slowly that happens, and how at any given time the majority of cells are not replicating (1/2)
RookieMove
It is true, although its also a kind of generalisation. Different parts are replaced at different speed. I think the skeleton is the 1/2
RookieMove
slowest (7 or 10 years. One of the two). Whereas your skin cells are replaced many many times in 10 years.
haikon
as they never will, only a small proportion of cells are those tissue stem cells that replenish our body (2/2)
sirpipthegreat
Considering that you're mostly bacteria, how do you figure?
haikon
stuck in G0 phase. that said, the process in the GIF still isn't occuring in most cells in the human body, as bacteria don't use it either
sirpipthegreat
I thought i was calling out a regular imgur smartass, not a smart one. You win this round.
haikon
lol thanks, I look forward to round two :-) and i def appreciate the 100% correct call out, always good to get checked
haikon
the process in the GIF is eukaryotic replication. so yes, you are correct in saying most cells in the adult body are in fact NOT (1/2)
Sakkura
Bacteria outnumber human cells, but they're much smaller individually. So by cell volume, humans are still mainly human.
haikon
True, but the # of instances of DNA replication (for most cells) is dependent on cell number/identity/state rather than cell volume
Sakkura
I was mostly replying to the "humans are mostly bacteria" thing. Which depends on whether you go by number of cells or by volume, mass etc.
finnnnnnnoooogginduuuuuude
aren't mitochondria constantly replicating their own DNA? i guess they use different machinery. :/
haikon
you know it and that they do :-)
ajmoss
not constantly... only when they need to, which is usually because the cell is splitting. But, their machinery is slightly different.
doctorbees
Well I wouldn't say *most* are in G0. In the CNS, yes. But the rest of your cells need to regenerate regularly (e.g. blood, skin, GI).
Sakkura
Blood? Most of your blood cells barely have any DNA at all. Red blood cells have no nucleus.
doctorbees
They do when they're immature. They eject their nucleus during maturation, becoming reticulocytes and eventually erythrocytes (RBCs).
Sakkura
The nucleus is shed in erythropoiesis, long before it's a red blood cell. Even immature reticulocytes are anucleate.
haikon
yup, but the majority of those cells don't regenerate via replication, rather they're replenished from tissue pluripotent cells
internalin
which proliferate, requiring lots of DNA replication.
haikon
agreed. but my statement was that it isn't taking place in most cells. the majority of cells are not tissue pluripotent cells
haikon
so skin cells regenerate from a small number of basal cells that reproduce, blood cells regenerate from bone marrow progenitor cells (2/3)
haikon
so in all of the terminally differentiated cells (most cells in your body), there actually is no DNA replication taking place (3/3)
doctorbees
Those progenitor cells do have to divide though, to maintain the progenitor pool. So there is some division going on.
haikon
oh absolutely. definitely some division going on. but definitely not in all or even most cells.
SgtLemming
Your skin never really stops doing this and that's a pretty large percentage of the bodies cells.
haikon
most of your skin cells do not regenerate, rather there is a small layer at the bottom of the epidermis that is constantly dividing
chemistrydoc
Found the biologist.
jsktrogdor
Found the biology *enthusiast*
HoneyWheresMySuperSuit
Can finding the biologist be a thing? I'm a biologist and I approve this message
Illyric
@unidan I SUMMON THEE
unidan
Neat!
lkfool
I didn't know this was a game of 'spot the biologist' now I feel a fool.
TjRyan
chemistrydoc, I'm going to have to ask you restrict yourself to your chemistry.
[deleted]
[deleted]
ohboyboy
Love this comic. I don't think the original has the philosophers bit, which is too bad because it is Brilliant!
chemistrydoc
jahavasaud
Don't listen to them! BIOCHEMISTRYDOC!
BilboT34Baggins
OWNED
chemistrydoc
He may have owned me here...but I own Imgur the rest of the time.
rooble
THIS IS CHEMISTRY! (internet cuddle)
haikon
lol nope, med student. either way an absolutely gorgeous animation, thanks so much for posting it!
sorrybutt
med students are the worst.
haikon
we really are. I know it won't help, but i'm sorry... :-/
FelipeRios
close enough
aldorel
Except med students and research biologists can have a *bit* of a rivalry.
castleinthewind
The vast majority of the cells in your body are prokaryotic. Ain't never heard of no G0 phase.
genengineer
someone's not showing any love for the eukaryotes (e.g. fungi) that we're all colonized with... :-p
haikon
lmao very true. there's like 10x as many prokaryotic cells. thought of mentioning it, figured it would just complicate things.
nofearbioishere
WHAT??? O.O
Sakkura
(which is why antibiotics can cause constipation etc)
Sakkura
There are about 10 bacterial cells per human cell in a healthy adult human. Most of them in the gut, helping out.
nofearbioishere
True. But those ARE NOT human cells! ergo your reasoning is faulty.
haikon
that said, the DNA replication mechanism pictured above is eukaryotic, and therefore still "not taking place in most cells in my body"
RookieMove
True, but theyre not "stuck in G0 phase". They mostly just lack a clearly defined cell cycle
haikon
lmao yeah that's also true. would've been so much better if i said "most Human cells". Ah well. i'll be more accurate next time :-)
Heat11
DNA makes RNA makes protein!
haikon
Nope, protein makes DNA and RNA
Sakkura
RNA makes protein with help from protein. You've got rRNA, mRNA, and tRNA all involved.
haikon
yup, didn't contradict that statement. FTR, freaking awesome when we first found out that the ribosomal catalytic site was RNA :-)
Heat11
hows about earth,wind, and fire makes protein makes dna makes rna makes protein?
Heat11
nope
haikon
DNA replication occurs through the work of proteins, as does RNA transcription. protein makes DNA and RNA (1/2)
haikon
That said, DNA is the template for DNA production and RNA production, and RNA is the template for protein production (2/2)
Heat11
whoa whoa francis crick called. he said relax on his use of the word "dogmatic" =D
MrFlamacue
Is the speed accurate?
labrat
Sauce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_polymerase_I I'd say this animation represents the process well in that it does happen very quickly.
idonthaveanyideawhatthehelliamtalkingabout
+1 for source, -1 for saying sauce, and -1 for using wikipedia as a source but +1 for the effort of teaching us... so you are neutral :Þ
labrat
Wikipedia is perfectly good sauce. A study published in Nature showed that they're just as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica.
idonthaveanyideawhatthehelliamtalkingabout
"just as" OR can "be just as"...
labrat
No, just as. It was a well-controled study.
chemistrydoc
Yes. This is a real time animation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ3JXFdUcwk
thejazzking
[Body Code Intensifies]
adp5025
holy 7:45
YourGod
I love science, I love you Doc!
Maoman1
I must have spent 10 minutes rewatching from 3:00 to 3:50 over and over again. One of the most fascinating videos I've ever seen. Thank you.
labrat
Depends on the organism. Bacteria polymerase can add ~1,000 bases/second, but in eukaryotes it 10-20 bases/second.
ajmoss
Yes but if this was bacterial the shape of the 'strand' would be different no?
labrat
I know very little about DNA replication in bacteria, other than it's much simpler. :/
steph1488
No, both bacteria and eukaryotes have DNA and RNA, made up of the same 5 bases
ajmoss
and btw, bacteria have totally different mechanisms of replication - including different enzymes that catalyze them.
ajmoss
But, most - and I mean MOST - bacteria have CYCLICAL DNA or RNA.
ajmoss
including extra 'plasmids' scattered around the cell, which have multiple processes of origin
brap
This proves that God created humans, because I don't fully understand these reactions so therefore no one can ever understand them.
twfeline
You just made a statement that makes more sense than any "intelligent design" spouter can manage.
RobBobertyYT
"I dont understand it so it cant be understood"? You must be fun to have as a student.
mcminnow
I was looking for this comment. someone says this seriously everytime this is posted.
brap
WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA???
labrat
Ah, the maddening argument of anti-science people. How can they not see how COOL this stuff is??
brap
The more we learn about how things work, the more they show a beauty a million times greater than some shopworn "creator" story.
timepterodactyls
The more we learn about how things work, the more they show a beauty (God's) a million times greater than some "random" sequence of events
timepterodactyls
Agree to disagree but from a creationist's view, it's just cool to see the complexity, detail, and beauty God created for things to function
mushroomtrombone
This proves that if there is God, he's an engineer.
mcminnow
actually it would prove that anything biological is in no way similar to human made designs whatsoever
PuppiesStartedEveryWar
Except a ton of that beautiful DNA is damaged and non-functional, ancient retroviral trash, or otherwise not beautiful at all.
brap
He?
Patriclis
^ this guy
mushroomtrombone
/she/it
brap
There's no need to swear like a common Southerner.
mushroomtrombone
Damn, walked right into it.