I hate Ricin my bowl - Mark Malabuen
...For the record, I actually love rice. It's delicious. It can essentially go with anything you eat. chicken, beef, fish...you name it! I could eat it all day! (I got a bit carried away...)
Ricin [Ricinus communis]. Accession : XP_002536216
I chose Ricin just because I wanted to make a pun about rice. Once I looked up information about Ricin, I found some interesting facts! You can find Ricin in castor beans which is used to make castor oil. It is really interesting how dangerous Ricin is to the human body. I also found it interesting how Ricin has been used around the world as a weapon (Some experimental, others not) like for example, a man was attacked with an umbrella that was coated with Ricin and ended up dying. It is somewhat frightening to think how Ricin can be coated onto anything.
This is the amino acid sequence that codes for Ricinus communis:
Ricin [Ricinus communis]. Accession : XP_002536216
I chose Ricin just because I wanted to make a pun about rice. Once I looked up information about Ricin, I found some interesting facts! You can find Ricin in castor beans which is used to make castor oil. It is really interesting how dangerous Ricin is to the human body. I also found it interesting how Ricin has been used around the world as a weapon (Some experimental, others not) like for example, a man was attacked with an umbrella that was coated with Ricin and ended up dying. It is somewhat frightening to think how Ricin can be coated onto anything.
This is the amino acid sequence that codes for Ricinus communis:
1 mkpggntivi wmyavatwlc fgstsgwsft lednnifpkq ypiinfttag atvqsytnfi
61 ravrgrlttg advrheipvl pnrvglpinq rfilvelsnh aelsvtlald vtnayvvgyr
121 agnsayffhp dnqedaeait hlftdvqnry tfafggnydr leqlagnlre nielgngple
181 eaisalyyys tggtqlptla rsfiiciqmi seaarfqyie gemrtriryn rrsapdpsvi
241 tlenswgrls taiqesnqga faspiqlqrr ngskfsvydv silipiialm vyrcapppss
301 qfsllirpvv pnfnadvcmd pepivrivgr nglcvdvrdg rfhngnaiql wpcksntdan
361 qlwtlkrdnt irsngkcltt ygyspgvyvm iydcntaatd atrwqiwdng tiinprsslv
421 laatsgnsgt tltvqtniya vsqgwlptnn tqpfvttivg lyglclqans gqvwiedcss
481 ekaeqqwaly adgsirpqqn rdncltsdsn iretvvkils cgpassgqrw mfkndgtiln
541 lysglvldvr rsdpslkqii lyplhgdpnq iwlplf
This is translated into the first 10 amino acid sequences
Methionine, Lysine, Proline, Glycine, Glycine, Asparagine, Threonine, Isoleucine, Valine, Isoleucine.
This is the first 15 lines of the nucleotide sequence
1 tcatctttat gagaatgcta atgtatttgg acagccaata aaattccaag aattgctgca
61 atcaaagatg aaaccgggag gaaatactat tgtaatatgg atgtatgcag tggcaacatg
121 gctttgtttt ggatccacct cagggtggtc tttcacatta gaggataaca acatattccc
181 caaacaatac ccaattataa actttaccac agcgggtgcc actgtgcaaa gctacacaaa
241 ctttatcaga gctgttcgcg gtcgtttaac aactggagct gatgtgagac atgaaatacc
301 agtgttgcca aacagagttg gtttgcctat aaaccaacgg tttattttag ttgaactctc
361 aaatcatgca gagctttctg ttacattagc cctggatgtc accaatgcat atgtggtcgg
421 ctaccgtgct ggaaatagcg catatttctt tcatcctgac aatcaggaag atgcagaagc
481 aatcactcat cttttcactg atgttcaaaa tcgatataca ttcgcctttg gtggtaatta
541 tgatagactt gaacaacttg ctggtaatct gagagaaaat atcgagttgg gaaatggtcc
601 actagaggag gctatctcag cgctttatta ttacagtact ggtggcactc agcttccaac
661 tctggctcgt tcctttataa tttgcatcca aatgatttca gaagcagcaa gattccaata
721 tattgaggga gaaatgcgca cgagaattag gtacaaccgg agatctgcac cagatcctag
781 cgtaattaca cttgagaata gttgggggag actttccact gcaattcaag agtctaacca
841 aggagccttt gctagtccaa ttcaactgca aagacgtaat ggttccaaat tcagtgtgta
“Facts About Ricin.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Nov. 2015, emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp
“Department of Health.” The Facts About Ricin, www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/ricin.htm.
Lamb, F I, et al. “Nucleotide Sequence of Cloned CDNA Coding for Preproricin.” European Journal of Biochemistry., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Apr. 1985, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3838723.
V
Hi, Mark! Your opening pun cracked me up so I decided to read your post! I just researched castor oil briefly, and I learned that it has several benefits for people, including skin and hair care. This makes it even stranger that ricin can be so harmful, or even lethal, to humans. I never would have thought that castor oil, a beneficial substance, could be derived from something that is deadly. I also learned that if ricin is inhaled by humans, it can potentially lead to respiratory failure, and if ricin is ingested, it has the ability to enter and kill cells. If the amount of cell death is substantial enough, bodily systems begin to fail, leading to ultimate death. Now I understand why you don't want ricin your bowl!
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