Research and publish the best content.
Get Started for FREE
Sign up with Facebook Sign up with Twitter
I don't have a Facebook or a Twitter account
Already have an account: Login
Science Art
252 views | +0 today
 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
Mike Tyka's insight:
"Angel of Death" - Ubiquitin Copper, Steel, Gold plating - 9"x9"x16"2011 - currently on display at ScienceHouse 
Scoop.it!
Antibody (IgG) by Mike Tyka.
The machinery of life, an inevitably complex system, must constantly defend itself from intrusion and subversion by other agents inhabiting the biosphere. Ever more intricate systems for the detection and thwarting of intruding foreign life forms have evolved over the eons, culminating in adaptive immunity with one of its centerpieces: The Antibody. Also known as Immunoglobulin, this pronged, Y-shaped protein structure is capable of binding, blocking and neutralizing foreign objects such as as bacteria or viruses. The two tips of the “Y” have special patches which can tightly recognize and bind a target. Our body generates astronomical numbers of variants, each recognizing a different shape. The variety is so great that completely alien molecules can be recognized even though the body has never encountered them before. Once bound, the antibody blocks the function of the foreign object by physically occluding its functional parts. The Antibody sacrifices itself in the process but not before signalling to the immune system to make more of its specific variant form. After the intruder in question has been fought off, memory cells remain in the bloodstream that can quickly be reactivated should reinfection occur to produce more of the successful variant Antibody. Via Gilbert C FAURE
|
Scoop.it!
Mike Tyka's insight:
"Portal" - Bacterial Porin Copper, Steel, Wenge Wood - 12"x12"x24"2012 - Currently at Hutchinson Cancer Institute, SeattleThe boundary of cellular life, which delineates the living chemistry from its surroundings, was among the most important fundamental inventions of evolution eons ago. Protein channels span these molecular castle walls and regulate the diffusional traffic of molecules trying to enter or leave the cell. One class of these molecular gatekeepers are the Porins, beta-barrel proteins that are situated in the outer membranes of cells or organelles such as human mitochondria. The Porin channel is partially blocked by a loop, called the eyelet, which projects into the cavity and defines the size of solute that can traverse the channel. Porins can be chemically selective, they can transport only one group of molecules, or may be specific to one molecule. For example, for antibiotics to be effective against a bacterium, it must often pass through an outer membrane Porin. Bacteria can develop resistance to the antibiotic by mutating the gene that encodes the Porin – the antibiotic is then excluded from passing through the outer membrane.
Scoop.it!
Savior - Antibody (IgG) Copper, Steel, Gold/Chrome plating - 56"x50"x18"2013 - Hutchinson Institute
|
KcsA Potassium Channel
Copper, Steel - 14"x14"x20"2011Potassium channels form potassium-selective pores that span cell membranes. They are the most widely distributed type of ion channel found in virtually all living organisms. The four identical subunits are situated in a four-fold symmetrical manner around a central pore, which allows potassium ions to pass freely. At the top of the structure, formed by four loops lining the pore, a selectivity filter is situated which prevents other ions (such as sodium ions) from passing. The correct ions are detected by their size and charge. Note that that no active pumping of ions occurs; it merely allows passive conductance of ions down the con-centration gradient between the two sides of the membrane. The KcsA is an archetypal membrane protein with eight tightly packed membrane-spanning a-helices. The four short helices in the center where the chain crosses half the membrane and then returns to the top are a more unusual feature.