Saturday, March 9, 2019

Nintendo Based Modeling - Electron Transport Chain in the Mitochondria "The Electric Slide"



They asked for it!  So here it is!  Notice the blue flag near this finish spot!

If you have ever seen in image about the electron transport chain, they are as dry as looking at tax documents or crazy alien schematics.  Well here we have a Super Mario Bros. themed diagram.  Basically the electrons are represented by coins.  They do an "Electric Slide" across five proteins.  As the 'Coins/Electrons' move towards the right, protons are pumped into the inter-membrane space.  In our fun model here protons are represented by fire balls.

So what happens is that all the bouncy/fire balls get concentrated in 'inter-space'.  You can imagine them moving and feel free to add the Nintendo sound effects in your head.  Just remember with mushrooms are the source of the elections when fall into their similarly coloured pipes.  Eventually in the final purple pipe (Complex IV) the coins/electrons combine with oxygen and create water.

Finally an artistic, fun, and familiar electron transport chain diagram that does not rely on blobular drawings.

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