Post Dosa

 Post Dosa

Ron: Hello and welcome to another episode of Lex Education

Laura: Foreign. Hello and welcome to another episode of Lex Education. It's the comedy science podcast where comedian me, that's my job. The comedian Laura Lex tries to learn science from her. Not a comedian. Um, doesn't like being called nerdy, is younger. Would we still say normal? Definitely her brother. It's Ron.

Ron: Hello, it's me, Ron.

Laura: Hi, Ron. How are you?

Ron: I'm good, thanks. Thinking about plates. Ugh.

Laura: Uh, we've been playing a lot of a game called Plate up, which I can't remember which one of you it was. One of the last lab rats messaged me that they also play it and they reminded me, Ron, because in their message I want to say Neil might not have been Neil. Someone on Patreon said, um, Yogscast great gamers. And we haven't fully explored the yogscast offering.

Ron: Uh, no, I used to watch yogscast stuff when I was a teenager.

Laura: Perhaps we need to explore more of their games.

Ron: Um, okay, let's do it.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Take a trip down your Oxcast lane.

Laura: We're very into Playtop at the moment, though. It's sort of taken over from Overcooked and, uh, Minecraft as our current games, doesn't it?

Ron: Yeah, we never played loads of Minecraft. Oh, no, we did. There was. Was it Grief Summer where we did that.

Laura: I think we've had stages of playing it absolutely loads. And we. We did an episode of it for the Patreon.

Ron: That's true. We need to do another one of those.

Laura: Yeah. By the way, if. If you're not a patron member, we just dropped yet another fantastic episode all about tickling. The Science of tickling. So why are you not a patron?

Ron: Not as a weird thing, as the next episode in Class Clown.

Laura: No, we just tickled each other for 45 minutes. Was horrible.

Ron: A few games on there.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: They got one called Bots Are Stupid, where you have to, like, programme what a bot does and get it from the beginning to the end. Kind of like a lemmings thing.

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Ron: That looks pretty fun. Um, yeah, the yogscast were big, uh, Minecraft youtubers back in the day.

Laura: Were they now?

Ron: Yeah, but then I think they've been embroiled in a few sexual scandals.

Laura: Oh, dear. Well, let's stop giving them air time. We've had joining the Google Meet. Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. I could look at your little face.

Ron: I like the noise when someone joins a Google Meet. Uh.

Laura: Um, by the way. Oh, yeah, that is a nice noise, isn't it? Would you like a small pop quiz, Ron?

Ron: I'd like you to mute yourself on the Google Meet. That's for sure.

Laura: Done it.

Ron: Um, yes, I'd like a small pop quiz. Hit me.

Ron: It's Patreon payday today, Rondy MC

Laura: What do you think Child of the Podcast means when she says bash Panda poop.

Ron: Crash Bandicoot?

Laura: Yes. We've got very into listening to the music in the car. Uh, what about Baby or no, real 100 mentals.

Ron: 100 mentals? I heard her say this when I was at yours, I think. I didn't know what it meant. No, hit me.

Laura: M. It's the Pixar film Elemental. Yeah. I. First of all, I put on One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and she was not having it.

Ron: Uh.

Laura: Um, I have just chosen not to correct her on any of these. Pretty cool.

Ron: They're cute. They're cute things.

Laura: We've just spent pretty much a week together, haven't we?

Ron: Yeah, me and girlfriend of the podcast came to. Came, uh, to stay for the little one's birthday.

Laura: Yeah. Girlfriend of the podcast, though, is a little too, um, willing to let Child of the Podcast do her makeup.

Ron: She let Child of the Podcast do anything?

Laura: Yeah, it's really cute. She talks to her like a grown business adult, but lets her do absolutely anything as if she's the emperor. It's phenomenal. It's very fun to listen to.

Ron: It's funny because we, yeah, we have completely different ethos when it comes to, um, that. That sort of thing, because she goes, sort of. Well, I'm only going to be here for a little bit, so it's not like my job to sort of discipline or teach. I've got the energy to do whatever she wants

00:05:00

Ron: and follow her around, whereas I go, I'm not here for that long. So I've got the energy to really hold her to account for her actions.

Laura: Yeah, she's good fun. We went swimming yesterday and, uh, she rode me like a horse around a swimming pool. 20 minutes ride, Piggy ride. It was good. Um, anyway, listen, what's the episode today, Ron? It's the second Biology.

Ron: Yeah. Which we think was a Leicester record.

Laura: We'Re flowing now, which I've not edited.

Ron: Because there wasn't a folder for it, so I assumed it was just a one you were doing, and I forgot that, uh, it was recorded directly to my laptop. Yeah, that'll be me this evening.

Laura: All right.

Ron: Well, actually, do you know what? Between you and me, that'll be me this afternoon.

Laura: Doing it on the company dime. It's, um, it's Patreon payday today as well, Ron. That's exciting, isn't it?

Ron: Kaching?

Laura: What are you going to spend your sweet, sweet winnings on?

Ron: Um, I'm not going to spend it because one of my New Year's resolutions was to just budget a bit better. Uh, you know, so I'm. I'm not spending all of my money anymore.

Laura: Oh, well done, you.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: All right. Enjoy the episode, whatever it may be about. Well, I'll tell you from the notes, Ron. Condensation and hydrolysis.

Ron: Oh, yeah.

Laura: Carbohydrates.

Ron: Yeah, that seems good.

Laura: Hey. Hello, Rondy.

Ron: Oh, you're peeking again.

Laura: Hello, Rondy MC.

Ron: Alright, try now.

Laura: Hello, Rondy MC.

Ron: No, we do it with energy still.

Laura: Hello, Rondy MC.

Ron: Hello there.

Laura: I thought about that when we were waiting to cross the road in the cold, saying, Rondy mc. I'm really thirsty. Really? Dad.

Ron: Get some water then.

Laura: Where? From the tap. Um, yeah. Need a cup.

Ron: There's a cup in there. It's got my toothbrush in it though.

Laura: Why? Whoa. Crush. I feel weird.

Ron: Yeah.

Welcome to the second half of the post Doser Record Everybody poster

Welcome to the second half of the post Doser Record Everybody poster.

Laura: Why is a toothbrush in this cup? Huh?

Ron: Where else am I supposed to put my toothbrush?

Laura: Just in the toilet.

Ron: Oh, she's actually. Jesus Christ. This is not professional podcasting.

Laura: It's not eating though.

Ron: No.

Laura: What's this? Dirty napkin?

Ron: It's been there the whole time. Yeah.

Laura: It'S such a slopey room. This slopey.

Ron: Stop hitting the desk.

Laura: Sorry, Ron. Fuck's sake. It's not my edit, so I don't care. Uh, I need to just hook on. I got a business I'm gonna crash so bad.

Quick, teach me Biology 2. Give us a recap. What were we doing in Biology 1

Quick, teach me Biology 2.

Ron: Laura.

Laura: Wicked. Right? What were we doing in Biology 1? Give us a recap.

Ron: Give us a recap.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: The run cap recap.

Laura: I miss Run cap. We were looking at biological malecules. No such thing. Biological molecules, two non metals can make a covalent bond. This is a molecule. Well, we're looking at bonding. Oh, yeah. Luca. Huh? Fluid mosaic fat is called a lipid. Uh, common ancestors, monomers and polymers. Yeah, it's the difference between Lego and an action figure.

Ron: Condensation, uh.

Laura: Mhm, is when water joins molecules.

Ron: Don't worry about that. We're gonna go into condensation in this lesson.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Okay.

So we're gonna start talking about monomers and polymers. First things first. Carbohydrates, starch, glucose, glucose

So we're gonna start talking about monomers and polymers.

Laura: And polymers.

Ron: First things first. I'm going to say I think we've done this on the last lesson. We have to keep drilling it because you have to just know these. Okay?

Laura: Okay.

Ron: If I say proteins, that's the Polymer amino acid. It's the monomer. Great. Okay. Carbohydrates,

00:10:00

Ron: starch, glucose, glucose. Yes, starch is a polymer. Uh, glucose would be the monomer. The other thing that you could say is polysaccharide, that poly is in many. And then monosaccharides would be the monomer. That's all the same stuff. Okay, what about DNA?

Laura: Nucleotides? Nucleic acid.

Ron: Yes. Nucleotides of nucleic acids. Both good. Don't write. No, uh, starch is fine, actually. Could also be glycogen, but glucose is also specific. There are other sugars out there. Use the language I'm giving you.

Laura: I did. You said glucose to carbohydrates.

Ron: No, glucose to starch.

Laura: Why did you say carbohydrates to me then?

Ron: Ah, carbohydrates. We're gonna go more into that later. Glucose, uh, to starch, but also monosaccharide and polysaccharide. That's the umbrella terms. Are you telling me that in a couple of weeks you're gonna know what monosac means?

Laura: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like Hitler had one ball, the other is of Hadrian's Wall. His mother. Huh. That one.

Ron: Yeah. That's good. Um, cool. Okay, right. The reason why I'm drilling that, Laura, is because that's basically all we need to know about monomers and polymers. Well, actually, we're going to learn more about monomers and polymers as we go through everything else. Okay.

Today we're going to be talking about carbohydrates. So what's the basic building block of a carbohydrate

Okay, today we're going to be talking about carbohydrates. Your friend of mine, I love them. Yeah, Um.

Laura: I just ate a doser, uh, full of potato carbohydrate.

Ron: So what's the basic building block of a carbohydrate?

Laura: Starch.

Ron: No.

Laura: Polysaccharides.

Ron: Again, no. Because that's obviously the polymer, isn't it? Polysaccharide.

Laura: Monosaccharides.

Ron: Monosaccharides, yes. Can you name any monosaccharides?

Laura: Glucose.

Ron: Yep.

Laura: Honey?

Ron: No.

Laura: Agave?

Ron: No.

Laura: Um, sugar.

Ron: These are all sugars? Yeah. No, when they started bringing out double sweet squash.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Do you know what was in that.

Laura: Sweetener?

Ron: No. What sugar is associated with fruit?

Laura: Fructose.

Ron: Fructose, yeah.

Laura: Glucose.

Ron: Glucose, Glucose. The other one, that's a common one that comes up is called galactose.

Laura: That is space sugar. Ooh, what a frightening. Chair crash is coming, Ron.

Ron: Okay.

A condensation reaction or hydrolysis reaction joins two monomers together

Laura: Fructose, glucose, galactose.

Ron: When monomers and polymers are built or broken down.

Laura: Mhm.

Ron: That's done with one of two reactions.

Laura: Either a condensation Joy or sadness.

Ron: Either condensation reaction or a hydrolysis reaction.

Laura: Okay, so and this is so condensation or hydrolysis. And this is when you're making or deconstructing a, um, mono or a poly.

Ron: Yep. So a condensation reaction joins two monomers together. Hydrolysis reaction breaks that bond.

Laura: Monomer, uh, becoming a polymer.

Ron: Is condensation with a joining reaction. Yeah, it could be two polymers joining together.

Laura: Okay. And then going the other way, we're calling that hydrolysis.

Ron: Yeah, and here's why. Okay.

Laura: Oh, I'm looking at a screen. Whoa.

Ron: So these, as you can see here, they're monosaccharides. Okay.

Laura: So I'm looking at. Ah, it's quite Christmassy really. It's a hexagon, says ho ho ho. Yeah, yeah. Looks like Christmas pyjamas. Um, is a hexagon with, with lots of H's and C's all over them. And then there's a plus side plus sign to another one of those. And then an arrow and it says monosaccharides pointing to those two separate ones that are plus together. And then on the other side of the arrow, it's called a glycosidic bond holding them together. So there's an oxygen that has joined with, with the N2 carbons

00:15:00

Laura: on the two monosaccharides.

Ron: Let me do that bit. So you see here, in between the two monosaccharides, we have two, what's called hydroxyl groups.

Laura: Oh ho.

Ron: That's the carbon in the ring is joined to an oxygen and then that ends with a hydrogen. Oxygen can make two bonds.

Laura: Mhm.

Ron: One goes to the carbon, one goes to the hydrogen. Okay, so that stops there. Carbon as we know, makes four bonds. It's joined to another carbon, an oxygen up there, hydrogen. And this oxygen in the hydroxyl group. Okay, yeah. This is joining with this hydroxyl group on this monosaccharide. Uh, okay. This oxygen is already there. It's one of these two. So when you whistle this down to just an oxygen, what you're left with two H's and an O, aka water. H2O. Water. So when you join these things together, it creates water. Yeah. And here's the cool thing. So this is monosaccharide. It's joining together to make a polysaccharide. These are nucleotides.

Laura: So these are some funky looking.

Ron: Don't worry about this.

Laura: I'm explaining it to the listener.

Ron: Let me. Because I know what we're looking at.

Laura: Well, let me just Tell them m. What it looks like before you tell them what it is.

Ron: Oh, it looks like four ducks.

Laura: Oh, no, it kind of does, actually. Yeah, I'll give you that. Um, I was gonna say it looks like the. The monosaccharides from the other one are now doing yoga.

Ron: Yeah. And actually, um, so this is a saccharide there. Um, a pentose sugar, you'd call that. But, um, these are nucleotides. So you've got, uh, the base bit here, you've got. That's all nitrogen, a pentose sugar. And then this is a phosphate group.

Laura: And then you've got some oxygen hydroxide.

Ron: A phosphate group. Yeah. But as you can see, again, it joins between two hydroxide groups. So again, you lose a water when you join these together. Condensate, Condensation, uh, reaction. Um, and actually, the interesting thing about nucleotides is in between the nitrogenous base, the bit that makes it adenosine, cytosine, thymine or guanine, the pentose sugar, even though they have joined that. Um, and then you've got the phosphate group there. Condensation reactions between all of these as well. It's a hugely common reaction that happens. And there'd be a water created when all of these things are joined together. Your friend of mine, ATP.

Laura: Mhm.

Ron: Is adenosine triphosphate. So it would look a lot like this, except there'd be three phosphate groups there. Look at these hydroxyl groups. So there's going to be a condensation reaction that joins on each of those phosphates as well. Because it's adenosine triphosphate. There's three phosphates.

Laura: It's making three droplets of water.

Two or more monomers join to make a polymer

Ron: Three molecules of water. Yeah. And just to really round the point home, it's the same for amino acids and proteins as well.

Laura: Okay, so just to summarise then, because we've just looked at a lot of figures there of things joining up. So. So whenever. Whenever. Two. Two or more monomers join to make a polymer. The hydroxyl group.

Ron: Two hydroxyl groups to make a polymer.

Laura: Two hydroxyl groups within the monomers. Within the monomers are, uh, what makes them pair up are where they join.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Are where they join. Have you farted?

Ron: No, not. Not recently.

Laura: It smells.

Ron: Ron, that's more likely to be you. You're the one having body problems.

Laura: You have farted and it sticks.

Ron: I actually haven't.

Laura: Ugh. Have you burped?

Ron: No.

Laura: Where, uh, they join, I also can't smell anything.

Ron: It's definitely coming from you.

Laura: Bin and.

Ron: Oh, it is the bin.

Laura: It's the bin smelling like bums. Don't kick it towards me. Poof. Might be that. Uh, nasty.

Ron: No, that actually smells fine.

Laura: Stupid. I'm trying to learn where they join. And they release water molecules from the spare. From the spare. Hs and Os.

Ron: Why don't we do a drawing to display that?

Laura: Because I can't really remember images.

Ron: We do have to practise drawing these things, though.

Laura: I hate

00:20:00

Laura: drawing. Okay.

Ron: So, um, when you have one of these hydrolysis, um, condensation reactions between two monosaccharides, that's called a glycosidic bond. Okay.

Laura: So two monosaccharides make a glycosidic bond.

Ron: The condensation reaction between them is a glycosidic bond.

Laura: It's lovely quality paper I'm writing on.

Ron: When you join together two monosaccharides, surprise, surprise, you get something called a disaccharide. That's when it's just two.

Laura: Ooh.

Ron: Okay. And you'll actually have heard of some of these common disaccharides.

Laura: Laura, Chocolate.

Ron: You have maltose.

Laura: Ah.

Ron: Uh, it's a disaccharide.

Laura: Dextrose.

Ron: Disaccharide formed between two glucose molecules. Let's find out what dextrose is. Don't know the difference between dextrose and glucose, actually.

Laura: Maybe dextrose is made up.

Ron: No, dextrose is a monosaccharide. Um, yeah, so maltose is two glucose molecules next to each other. Okay.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: So to do that, all you have to draw. So when you draw molecules like this, organic chemistry, you don't have to write a C all the time. You could just draw a line and we'll assume that's a carbon there, because we know that we're working within the field of organic chemistry. Okay.

Laura: Yes. We're on.

Ron: So I want you to draw a hexagon, but with a. Like this, with an O in that top right corner. Okay.

Laura: Okay. O. Uh, um. Um. Hexagons never look how I think they're gonna look.

Ron: Very good. Okay, then on the left hand side, going to have an H coming up from that carbon and a hydroxyl group going down.

Laura: Does it matter if it's ho or. Oh, yes.

Ron: And you should be able to tell me why. How many bonds can a h make?

Laura: 2, 4, 8. 1.

Ron: How many bonds can an oxygen make?

Laura: 2.

Ron: Yeah. So if you had the H first, where would the oxygen join?

Can you hear that buzzing noise? Try turning these lights off

Laura: What?

Ron: So if you.

Laura: Oh, I see. So the O that is A join to the O.

Ron: Uh, yes, of course.

Laura: And the H is free.

Ron: Yes. You have a line coming up from that top left corner that represents a methyl group. And then you have an H going up on the right as well and a hydroxyl group going down. Okay.

Laura: Like a little crab.

Ron: That's glucose. We can label that Glucose.

Laura: Hi, glucose. I love you.

Ron: All right.

Laura: Even though you make it hard for me to concentrate.

Ron: Cool. And then can you now please draw a maltose molecule?

Laura: Okay, so this Ow. Is gonna be two of these. Hizum da dim dizzy zim zom. Um, so I'm recreating what I've just drawn there, except for I'm m doing a single O there. What are you doing?

Ron: Can you hear that noise? That buzzing?

Laura: Yeah, it's the lights.

Ron: Use that fluorescent tube. Yeah, that's very grey.

Laura: Okay, now it's two crabs holding hands with their tiny son and a water next door.

Ron: Yes, very nice, Very nice. Well done.

Laura: Um, it's the bathroom, Ron.

Ron: Uh, no, I can. Maybe it's these lights. I can still hear it.

Laura: Yeah, no, it's.

Ron: Turn these ones off. I could hear it when the door was closed as well. Try turning these lights off.

Laura: I think that's just the sound of Leicester.

Ron: All right. The Leicester hum. It's fine. We don't need that one.

00:25:00

Ron: Stop.

Laura: I think it's like the water pipes or something. Never mind. This chair is noisier than all of it.

Ron: It is indeed.

Ron, you drew your first organic molecules. Well done. Alright, that's maltose

Alright, that's maltose. And you drew your first organic molecules. Well done.

Laura: Hooray. Welcome to Crabtown.

Ron: Oh, actually, no, you haven't got that right. Because you've mirrored it here. Yeah, yeah.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: No, you've mirrored it.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: But this, this one should join onto, um, this one. They'll be the same because you have to build a long chain out of these things. That's what a polymer is. It's a long chain.

Laura: Don't get mad at me now.

Ron: I'm not.

Laura: So what have I done wrong here?

Ron: You've mirrored it.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Draw them the same.

Laura: I said I was mirroring it as I did it.

Ron: Yeah, but I don't listen to you while you work these things out because that would really make me want to kill myself.

Laura: H H o uh. And then we're doing that.

Ron: Okay, he's gone louder. Said you rustled. Do you know what was a big phrase when I was at college that really rustled my jimmies? Meant that you were angry.

Laura: I don't really understand what I've done wrong.

Ron: Can you not see the difference between those two pictures.

Laura: Just done those on the other sides.

Ron: Yeah. So it's the other way round.

Laura: Yeah. Well, what does that matter?

Ron: Because if you are going to make a this, you can only repeat that once, can't you?

Laura: Why?

Ron: Because the O's are joined up, whereas this. That pattern can keep on going forever.

Laura: But there's a C's in between, aren't there? Uh, what do you mean? Isn't that a C?

Ron: Where?

Laura: There.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: So what's the O got to do with anything?

Ron: Well, the oxygen's there. That's just the way round. It is.

Laura: But I thought it was this oxygen we were playing with.

Ron: It is.

Laura: So what's this O got to do with anything?

Ron: Because. Because this C and this C are different Cs, aren't they?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Well, actually, no. This C and this C are the same C. Because they're in the same place on the ring. Yeah.

Laura: Right.

Ron: This C needs to join up to this C via this O. Different Cs.

Laura: Fucking absolutely impenetrable logic there, Ron.

Ron: It needs to be. Needs to be the same bond every time.

Laura: They can't be upside down.

Ron: No. Has to be the same bond.

Laura: I've done that.

Ron: Now why are you shouting at me?

Laura: Because you're being horrible. And the noises in my ears. Now. How long have we been recording?

Ron: Only 20 minutes.

Laura: It feels like a long time when you're.

Ron: What are you doing?

Laura: Fiddling?

Ron: Put it down.

Laura: No.

Ron: Put it down.

Laura: I want to calm myself down.

Ron: You see that? When. Draw another one on this chain.

Laura: I don't want to.

Ron: Okay, then we'll just stop, okay?

Ron: That'll mess with my drawing

All right. End of the episode.

Laura: No.

Ron: Then do it.

Laura: Why? That'll mess with my drawing.

Ron: Do it, please.

Laura: That'll mess with my drawing. I don't want to.

Ron: Okay, then draw another one from scratch.

Laura: I. Why?

Ron: To illustrate the point. Because you're being like.

Laura: You'Re wrong and you just don't want to admit it.

Ron: No. Not wrong.

Laura: Fine. More musical interlude. You'd better edit this to make it fun, Ron.

Ron: If you could just be fun in the first instance, that would be helpful. Or just get someone else to dub over your bits. See if Lucy Porter's available.

Laura: Love Lucy Porter. You do.

Ron: No. You've just got a rivalry with her that you wouldn't admit to.

Laura: I admit to it all the time. Did you not hear my Christmas diss track?

Ron: The one where you called her a pedo?

Laura: I want a Grammy for it. Oh, my hexagons are getting horrible and horribler. Huh?

Ron: Swear, if you fuck this Up. I'm gonna freak out.

Laura: There you go.

Ron: That's right. Okay, so. Pen.

Laura: It ran over my pen.

Ron: So if we

00:30:00

Ron: start labelling these carbons like this. Four, five, just going around the ring. One, uh, two, three.

Laura: Gently with your tongue.

Ron: Horrible. So you can see that, uh, carbon 5 is always joining up to carbon 2 there.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Whereas a newer one, we've got carbon 5 joining to a carbon 5. Yeah, yeah.

Laura: There is absolutely no reason that can't happen.

Ron: But it doesn't happen.

Laura: But it could. And why not?

Ron: Because all of these things like this would then carry on for ages. This chain. When you're like making starch.

Laura: I can't believe you just scribbled all over my book.

Ron: You scribble over it all the time.

Laura: I draw and do notes. You've just done a wiggle.

Ron: This. Because this is the same every time. This is going to build a much more stable molecule. What's the point of starch?

Laura: Compact storage.

Ron: Exactly. Storage. It has to be there for a long time. This is replicatable. It's going to form a, uh, constant structure. Starch and glycogen, they form curls.

Laura: I'm just saying though, if it was mirrored, what's to stop it continually carrying on?

Ron: It's not gonna be as stable. Uh, why? Because if it was, biology would do it that way.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: And I can, I would imagine it's because you've got all of these oxygens there and the periodicity of these different elements is gonna fuck with that.

Laura: Right. Okay. There you go. That's there, there's. You've finally given me an answer.

Ron: Are you only just asked that question?

Laura: I've kind of been asking why the whole time.

Ron: No, you haven't.

Laura: Uh, it feels like I have.

Ron: You literally only just ask that question.

Sarah and me formed a club with a cream cream last year

Who's cream Sarah?

Laura: Why is she called cream?

Ron: Cream of the crop floats to the top. When me and Sarah sorted out Christmas last year, we formed a club with a cream cream. The crop floats to the top.

Laura: Wow.

Ron: You're not in the club.

Laura: I don't care. I don't want to be in your weird creamy club. Um, Happy knows how to read club with Megan.

Ron: That is.

Sucrose is a disaccharide formed by condensation

Maltose sucrose is a disaccharide formed between a condensation of glucose and fructose.

Laura: And this was your favourite part of science?

Ron: Not this bit. Write that down.

Laura: What? Ron doesn't like this.

Ron: Sucrose is a disaccharide formed by condensation between glucose and fructose. Why do you think they're called carbohydrates? By the way.

Laura: While you do that, I can't think and write. Okay, done.

Ron: Lactose is a disaccharide formed between glucose and galactose.

Laura: Lactose, did you say?

Ron: Mhm.

Laura: Wait. Lactose is a disaccharide formed by glucose and galactose.

Ron: Lactose disac. Ga plus glucose.

Laura: No galactose. It's just I've crossed out the lactose, but I'll give it a tick to reinstate it. I'll know what it means. And, um, Ron, I won't revise from it anyway.

Ron: Okay, those are your disaccharides. Do you know why they're called carbohydrates?

Laura: Um, well, something to do with a hydrate. So that's the water coming out of them, the hydrogen staying in them. Hydrate water, Isn't it? Carbon. Hydrogen.

Ron: There's a lot of carbon and hydrogen in them, isn't there? Uh, do you remember when we were talking about the condensation, hydrolysis reactions? Do you remember I showed you examples of that in everything? So it's probably. We probably didn't name carbohydrates about that because it happens with amino acids.

Laura: Okay, so they're full of carbons.

Ron: Happens between phosphate groups. Happens between.

Laura: I remember drawing carbohydrates like this. Isn't it little centipedes.

Ron: Remember it from when, uh, we did it? No, that's a hydrocarbon.

Laura: Oh, Forgive me for confusing a carbohydrate and a hydrocarbon.

Ron: You should, because they're different. You've learned about both of them, and you just drew some carbohydrates there.

Laura: You can see how I've remembered that, though.

00:35:00

Laura: You're hostile when you're full of dough, sir.

Ron: Uh, no, you're pertinent.

Laura: Well done for remembering what a hydrocarbon is, Laura.

Ron: You didn't. You thought it was a carbohydrate. So what have you done? What do you need a clap for now?

Laura: I need some chocolate. We should have tasted all of the different polysaccharides as part of the lesson.

Ron: Yeah, maybe we should have had some sugar.

Laura: But m. There's sugar here in the tea tray.

Ron: Yeah, eat some of that. No, mix it with the milk. Let's find out what sugars are in them, though.

Laura: Okay. White. That is all the information.

Ron: Silver spoon. Yeah, there's nothing. Oh, no, there's demerara. Uh, don't know what that is. No, there's nothing in here. No info. I think that's coffee.

Laura: Yeah. Um. Wait. My egg.

Ron: You ate the egg.

Laura: I've got the wrapper.

Ron: Why?

Laura: Because I'm not gonna eat the wrapper.

Ron: Throw it away.

Laura: I might have needed it for a science experiment. Glucose syrup.

Ron: Glucose.

Laura: Glucose. Fructose.

Ron: Glucose. Fructose. What's a glucose? Fructose?

Laura: Maltose.

Ron: Oh, uh, no, no, Sucrose.

Laura: That's it.

What's an isotope? An atom with a varied number of neutrons

Ron: All right, Laura, what's an isotope?

Laura: An atom with a varied number of neutrons.

Ron: Very good. ISO, meaning the same thing, but a little bit different. What if I were to introduce you, Laura?

Laura: Isomalt.

Ron: Don't just say things. That was a really good. Just saying things.

Laura: I've heard of isomalt.

Ron: Don't know what that is. So.

Laura: Sugar.

Ron: Okay. Isomalt.

Laura: Yeah, it is, um, it's like a moulding.

Ron: It's a sugar substitute.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Interesting.

An isomer is a molecule that has the same chemical formula but is arranged differently

Anyway, I'm going to introduce you to the concept of an isomer. Uh, stop doing that. Maybe a new page for this one. So you actually draw some stuff.

Laura: Isomer.

Ron: Uh, an isomer.

Laura: How old do you think zooey Deschanel is?

Ron: 46. Long gone.

Laura: We missed them.

Ron: Yeah. An isomer is a molecule that has the same chemical formula but is arranged differently.

Laura: Let me point to you to an isomer.

Ron: Absolutely correct. That is an isomer of, um, maltose. But it is not maltose.

Laura: That water's giving me stomach ache.

Ron: Could you draw glucose again for me and label it Alpha glucose.

Laura: Drawing glucose. H O H. Oh, uh, Alpha glucose.

Ron: Very good.

Laura: Ron's doing some drawing now. Ron's now drawn a beta glucose.

Ron: Spot the difference.

Laura: Uh, well, the. Oh. Is at the top there, whereas it was at the bottom there.

Ron: Yep, that's it. Alpha glucose, if you turn. Make that into a polymer, that's where you get glycogen and starch from.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Beta glucose, if you make that into a polymer, that's where you get cellulose from.

Laura: Oh.

Ron: Um, and what's really interesting about it is that Alpha glucose. Beta glucose, if you were to just eat a pile of that would react exactly the same. But we can't break down cellulose. So even though it's made out of like highly sort of energy dense sugar like that, we can't access it because we can't break the butyl glycosidic bonds.

00:40:00

Ron: But cows can think it's why they have to chew stuff loads.

Laura: That's why it matters that I don't flip reverse it.

Ron: Because, um, the difference between those things because you'll notice that the oh and the H are coming off the same carbon.

Laura: Mhm.

Ron: So in theory, they're bonded to the same atom. Um, they should be like if, um, if everything was equal, that would be the same molecule, basically. Um, but there's a concept in organic chemistry called chirality. And we'll go into this more in the chemistry course. Um, but chirality, um, with a chi at the beginning, um, when you have um, an atom making four covalent bonds around it, each of those covalent bonds is two electrons, right?

Laura: Yep.

Ron: All of those electrons are negatively charged.

Laura: Yep.

Ron: So each of those two electrons is gonna try and be as far away from all of the other bonds as possible to be as stable as possible.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: This gives it a very specific shape. Um, a tetrahedral structure they call it. And you have one up, going up and you have like a base of three at the top like that.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Not all of these angles between these bonds are the, the same, which is where the chirality comes from. Because it's basically, you can have left handed, right handed versions of it. Um, and the difference between these molecules can be, uh, even though they have chemically the same structure can um, be huge. Um, so like with glucose, you have the difference between alpha glucose and beta glucose. One of them for us is a hugely energy rich thing when you turn it into a polymer. The other one we can't even digest. Um, the really famous example of a left handed versus right handed molecule is thalamidomide.

Laura: Yep.

Ron: So, um, it's like just a morning sickness drug I think, um, like in the 70s or something, um, when they tested it all fine because the right handed version of it or the left handed one of them is fine and the other one causes the birth problems that are really, really famous. And they only tested one of them. So then when they made the drug, they weren't doing tests for chirality and then it was getting released with both types and now people are actually given thalamidomide because they do that test and they test it for one of them being the right chirality. Yeah.

Laura: Huge M shows. That is a point to science.

Ron: It really, really is. Um, next time on Biology we'll go through all the different tests around carbohydrates. Fun.

Laura: Thanks, Juan.

Ron: I hate the little instant milks.

Laura: Yeah. Horrid.

Ron: Ready?

Laura: Yes.

This is biology 22 quiz. You remember what we studied

Ron: All right. This is biology 22 quiz. You remember what we studied?

Laura: Yes. Mono and polysaccharides. I think you're really going to hear in this record how early it is.

Ron: It's eight minutes past ten.

Laura: I know, but early in my day.

Ron: Right, okay. Yeah. We're in bed.

Laura: Separate beds. I just want that out there. Uh, a little twin bed record going on. It's very cosy.

Ron: Have you got your notebook?

Laura: Just take a picture. Yeah.

I want you to draw glucose without looking at those drawings of glucose

Ron: Because the first thing that I want you to do, Laura, is I want you to draw glucose without looking at those drawings of glucose that you're looking at.

Laura: Um, I'm not looking at. You can literally see my hand covering them up. You squib. God, I hate you. Right. Okay. Okay. I've got to draw a pentagon because it's all about the Satan. And then there's a hole there, uh, for an O. Uh, that goes like that. Now, that one

00:45:00

Laura: is an oh, Relatively sure. That one is an Ho. Relatively sure. What the fuck went up up there on the other crab arm? It must have been. No, because it's those joining. No, they spoon off an H.2O. Uh, so is it anything? Must have been probably an H. Oh, the temptation to look. Let's think about it. When it joins up with another one, they share an O. So that's two H's and an O. So that all appears from there. So there's nothing on those needed for the condensation reaction. Thank you, Ron. They're not carbons because we don't draw the carbons. Uh, but is it an O? Uh, because I seem to remember when I drew it backwards, the O's were too near each other and they were reacting to each other. I'm, uh, going to put H's. H's feels more right. Maybe there's nothing, though. Maybe it's empty there. I'm gonna go with H's. That's what I'm drawing, Ron. Yes, it was H's.

Ron: Very nice. Yes, yes, yes.

Laura: I had a real blank space in my brain for what was on those bits because they're essentially irrelevant.

Ron: I'll, uh, give you two marks for that, Laura. Total two.

Laura: Thank you, Laura.

Ron: What? Sucrase.

Laura: Sucrose.

Ron: Yes.

Laura: Is a disaccharide made of glucose and, um, fructose.

Ron: Bloody hell, Laura. What's the difference? What are the differences between starch, glycogen and cellulose for?

Laura: Don't tell me how many marks there is. Um, well, starch is a polymer of glucose or a polysaccharide of glucose. Monomers, um, glycogen and cellulose. Cellulose was basically a polymer made of beta glucose. And how did glycogen fit into it all then? Maybe glycogen is the polymer made of alpha glucose. But that's starch, isn't it? So I know cellulose Is was made up of the, like slightly flip, reverse the beta glucose and we can't digest it because it's got that different structure type thing because of that. Whereas that's all I know. That's the end of my information.

Ron: Um, I'm gonna give you two out of five. They're all polysaccharides made of glucose.

Laura: Yep.

Ron: You're correct. Cellulose is beta glucose.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Can't digest it because, uh, we can't break that glycosyl bond between two beta glucoses. Cellulose is structural. It's used for, as a structural thing in plants rather than energy storage, which both starch and glycogen are. Starch and glycogen both alpha glucose. Starch is an energy storage for plants. Glycogen is how we store sugar in our bodies, yet glycogen deposits in muscles, which is why, like, after you've been working out for a bit, like when you first start, uh, you've got lots of energy. When you burn all of that glycogen, then you're out of energy. Three similar molecules. Laura, what's a hydroxyl. Why are you giving me that look?

Laura: Oh, it's just interesting, isn't it? I don't think we talked about that muscle bit. No, maybe not interesting.

Ron: What's a

00:50:00

Ron: hydroxyl group?

Laura: Hydroxyl, uh, group is a group of hydrogens and oxygens together in a polymer.

Ron: No, now you're just saying things. Hydroxyl group is when, like, you know, uh, like you drew on the ends of your glucose that little.

Laura: Oh, yeah, yeah, that's what I said.

Ron: It's not hydrogens and oxygens in a group. No, it's not.

Laura: It's O and H together.

Ron: Aa and oxygen and hydrogen in a group.

Laura: And I was talking about multiples of them.

Ron: Definitely weren't. And then you talk about polymers. It could be on anything. It could be on a monomer.

Laura: Okay, don't want that point anyway.

Chirality is the same structure within a monomer but having molecule

Ron: Laura, what's chirality?

Laura: Fuck. C, H, I, R, uh, A, L, I, T, Y. Wait, chirality. Was that B about. Well, you were calling them left and right handed. But does that basically mean like the alpha and beta? Is that the same as what you were describing as left and right handed? Yeah. Okay, so chirality is the same structure, uh, within a monomer but having molecule. That's it. But having a different layout.

Ron: Where does the difference in the layout come from?

Laura: What do you mean? Well, just it's all in a different order within the, uh, like construction of the molecule, of the, like, individual elements of it.

Ron: But in the beta alpha glucose example, you know, the hydroxyl group and the hydrogen, they're attached to the same carbon.

Laura: Yeah, but they're mirror image reversed.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Is that what you need? They're a mirror of each other?

Ron: No, I just, um. What's the difference between them? Like, where does that come from?

Laura: Well, like, for example, in the glucose alpha, uh, glucose and the beta glucose, the oxygen is reversed. The side that it's on of the pentagon.

Ron: What pentagon?

Laura: The glucose is hexagon.

Ron: What do you mean? What side of it?

Laura: Well, it's on the left hand side of the hexagon, on the alpha one, and then the right hand side of the top of the hexagon.

Ron: No, uh, look at your drawings of your alpha and your beta glucose.

Laura: On. All right, the other way around. It's on the right hand side of the. No, no, no.

Ron: Look at your drawing.

Laura: Oh, it's the hydroxyl group that's moved.

Ron: But there's a hydroxyl group on both sides.

Laura: Yeah, but it's at the top or the bottom.

Ron: Yeah, so like I said, it's attached to the same carbon. Um, uh.

Laura: It'S at the top of.

Ron: Do you remember we talked about the angle between the different bonds?

Laura: Oh, yeah. And then, then, then, then, then, then there's like electrons in it. And then because they're always trying to make a little trench hook, they like trying to get away from it. And that's called chirality.

Ron: Chirality?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: There's no rotational symmetry between those two molecules. Even though the hydroxyl group and the hydrogen are attached to the same carbon.

Laura: Yeah, because they're in a different place when they connect differently. They're at a different angle to each other because of the electrons, the shape that they end up in.

Ron: I'll give you one out of two for that. But that's okay because chirality will come up more in chemistry. I just think it's good to talk it through now so it's not a surprise later on.

Laura: Um, it's super interesting.

Ron: Yeah, it's fascinating.

Laura: And it's kind of so fascinating that we can even find this out. You know, I just find it a little bit crazy, like how quickly science went from 120 years ago, like when we were doing the Valentine's thing and you're like, oh, we're sticking mercury and stuff, and then they find out about bacteria, and then suddenly we're like, not only do we know about all the elements and the molecules but we know that the electrons within them are, like, changing the way they stick together.

Ron: We know the angle.

Laura: Yeah, exactly.

Ron: Like, to the degree.

Laura: That's crazy.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Well done, scientists.

Ron: See, this is what I really love about molecular biology. Like how these little changes. Yeah, this is there.

00:55:00

Ron: I think. I think when we get into organic chemistry from the chemistry perspective, I think you start finding it, you'll start answering a lot of the questions that you've got about why this stuff happens and whatnot. And a lot of them, a lot of the exercises that you have to do turn into kind of just like nice little puzzles that you can work out once you know a couple of things about these different elements. Because molecules are essentially like, um, they're a lot like. Like Meccano or something. Like they fit together in the same way. There's only certain number of building blocks and they. When. When an oxygen is next to a hydrogen, it always reacts in the same way. And when hydrogen is next to a carbon, it always reacts in the same way in sauna. So. So eventually you can just look at a molecule and be like, okay, well, that bond's going to be weak because of the periodicity of these elements. So when this comes in, it's going to break that one. And then this will form and stuff. And you can. It's all very logical once you learn a few more steps.

Laura: Yeah.

All right. What did I get? You got it wasn't good, was it

All right.

Ron: And you get to say Van der Waals.

Laura: Is that the end of the end of the quiz? Yeah. What did I get? You got it wasn't good, was it?

Ron: Hang on, let me just work out.

Laura: What it was out of this world.

Ron: Um, you got six out of 11.

Laura: That's sad.

Ron: Uh, well, cheery. Bye.

Laura: Bye.

Ron Lester says making tea is a struggle because of agriculture

So there we go. I did so many drawings for this. Ron Lester.

Ron: Feels like a lifetime ago.

Laura: Look at all these drawings of different sugars and whatnots that I've drawn. Hydroxyl M groups. Yes, Leicester does feel like a lifetime ago. Wasn't even that long ago. Well, it was a month ago. Oh, it was a lifetime ago. For some things that only live a month.

Ron: Yeah. Probably frogs.

Laura: Frogs must live more than a month.

Ron: Probably not all of them.

Laura: No, that's true. I don't think anything like a UK garden frog. How long do they live? Five years.

Ron: How, uh, old are frogs?

Laura: Rana temporia. How long does a Rana temporia?

Ron: From a few years to more than 20.

Laura: Whoa.

Ron: Common frogs live for around five to ten years.

Laura: That's amazing.

Ron: Frogs have roamed the Earth for more than 200 million years.

Laura: I think roamed is an Overstatement. They're not really life's roamers, are they? They're not like ibex.

Ron: That is 50 million generations of frogs.

Laura: They still have to just live in ponds. I'd be really sad if my ancestors had done all with 50 million opportunities. Thank God the people before us were, like, were driven.

Ron: Mmm. Because everything's going great. Especially for the really driven people.

Laura: I mean, it could be going worse. I'm listening to a book about, like, early humans fiction, and, uh, fuck. Just every single day, just most of the day is taken up with just boiling water to make a cup of tea.

Ron: Yeah. But it was an honest life.

Laura: Wow. Your. Your mood has gone down, uh, since girlfriend of the podcast left.

Ron: No, I just think I've. I've had this conversation with a friend of the podcast, Noah before, about if he could change, um, the world with, um, with, uh, like, with a. With a genie or something. I think I'd just make it so that we never cracked agriculture.

Laura: What, and we were all just hunting?

Ron: Yeah, hunting and gathering and foraging.

Laura: What if another animal cracked agriculture?

Ron: No, I'd make it. Agriculture's uncrackable.

Laura: Oh.

Ron: Because then you can still have humans, which are lovely, and we can have human relationships and create art, which is amazing, but we never start

01:00:00

Ron: seizing land and oppressing people in the same way.

Laura: But then wouldn't it still always be a struggle to just make a cup of tea?

Ron: Yeah, it's okay for things to be a struggle sometimes, Laura.

Laura: I think I choose oppression. I think. But why can't it be a struggle for someone else that I've oppressed and then I can just have my cup of tea? I've already had two cups of tea.

Ron: It is, you white devil.

Laura: Yeah, I think that's the thing, Ron. I think if you put me in a world where making my. My habitual nine cups of tea took a fortnight, I'd be doing loads of oppressors.

Ron: No, you wouldn't have tea.

Laura: No, they did. They had different teas. They made mint teas and all sorts of things.

Ron: Those are infusions. Um, as you used to say to me when I was making ging tea in your house.

Laura: Ugh, ginger. I hate ginger and I hate infusions. Why wouldn't we have tea? I'm sure you could have tea.

Ron: It's from India.

Laura: Why can't I be Indian in this world?

Ron: Because you were born in a valley in Somerset.

Laura: Yeah, because of agriculture. But who knows who we are or what this podcast is if there's no agriculture.

Ron: We'D Made it to, uh, the British Isles as a race before agriculture.

Laura: Yeah, so.

Ron: So that wouldn't necessarily change.

Laura: Might not have lasted.

Ron: We did last.

Laura: Yeah, but still there, Ron, you can't say that all the same people would be alive without agriculture.

Ron: No, you wouldn't be alive to take your nine cups of tea.

Laura: I might be in here.

Ron: Or not.

Laura: I just think. I just think if you've allowed a world where there's no agriculture, I'm allowed to be from India.

Ron: Alright, I'll wish that for the genie. And then second wish, Indian Laura.

Laura: Thank you.

Ron: Third wish, £1,000,000.

A big thank you to Pete Stanton for supporting our Patreon campaign

Laura: What about even though there's no agriculture, there's just a really easy going cow near me that lets me milk it for my tea?

Ron: Right. Well, they didn't have cows before agriculture. They had the aurochs.

Laura: Can I milk an aurochs?

Ron: I presume so.

Laura: Hey, do you think we'd have really good extra dogs?

Ron: What do you mean extra dogs?

Laura: More dogs, Better dogs. Because we don't have agriculture, so we're doing more hunting.

Ron: I don't know. I. I don't really know about the domestication of dogs.

Laura: I reckon we would. Right, well, we should probably let people go about their days now. But hey, chat to us on the socies about, um, where do you want to be from if there's.

Ron: I don't think Laura understood. Um, anyway, and it's a third in a row. Big thank you to Pete. Pete Stanton. And I'll tell you for why. It's because Pete is a teacher's Pet tier patron. So this should have been a big thank you involving his character in the up and coming DND campaign that we'll be doing on the Patreon very soon. Once we hit that Patreon goal. Not that weird Flesh park stuff that Laura was talking about last week, which was very strange. Laura's odd. A big thank you to Pete Stanton, who as uh, a small apology for this long drawn out thank you, is gonna be the proprietor of the local tavern, the Stanton Arms, where gossip will be shared, quests will be started and a host of kooky characters will be introduced.

Laura: The Stanton Arms. It's a good name.

Ron: Yeah, I just. Mr. All right, Mr. Stanton. Three pale ales, please. It rolls off the tongue.

Laura: Also, Pete could be short for some really good fantasy world. Petre on, you know, Petreon.

Ron: He's a Petron.

Laura: Oh yeah, Petarclius. You know, like teaches Pete.

Ron: There's so many different things we can do with it.

Laura: Pete. Pete. For the third week, we thank you.

Ron: We salute you, Pete. A small apology to everyone that's waiting for one of these, as I'm sure you all are with bated breath. But we had to luxuriate in Pete for a while.

Laura: Yeah, with no farts and arguments.

Ron: Class dismissed.

01:04:35