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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Amino Acid Leucine Flag: L Flag or Leu Flag

The Leucine Flag uses the colours white, red, orange, and black.  The vertical stripes by the hoist refer to the 12th letter of the alphabet, which is L.  And L is the one letter symbol for Leucine.  Leucine also has a three letter abbreviation: Lys.  Why do the colours red and orange represent L?  Since red is the first colour of the standard rainbow it represents the number 1.  Likewise the second colour of the typical rainbow is orange.  Put them together in colour metrics and they represent 12.

On the field are four dots that reflect the number of carbon atoms in the R-Group, which gives each amino acid its personality.  The pattern is also reflective of L's structure.  The bottom dot represents this amino acids connection to the root of COCON, while the upper part represent the branching pattern outwards.  Note that Hydrogens are ignored in this flag as well.

The primary disease associated with amino acid is Maple Syrup Urine Disease, which is an inherited disease.  People with this disorder can not break down branched amino acids like Leucine, among others.  This can lead to death if not treated properly.  The treatment is a careful diet regulation and ultimately a liver transplant.




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