I often miss the expansive sort of writing style that allows the author to go off in diverging directions all around a specific topic. I stated the idea in my mind when I had considered a specific term that people in general might know from biology, that being the citric acid cycle. I wanted to use a webhosting package that was specific for WordPress, using a domain called LetsGoMeta.info. I thought this particular post would be a perfect introduction.
In short the idea of meta information, relates to everything that a given idea might represent. At this point I did something that I often do, when writing online and that is, I looked it up, online:
Data that provide information about other data. · Metadata summarizes basic information about data, making finding & working with particular instances of data easier.
From “OpenDataSoft.com
The term I really thought to be involved with the original topic of the citric acid cycle was ketogenic, or it’s root word ketone. As a college student I had learned about ketones in college chemistry, but today I suppose I understand ketones a something of a metabolic shortcut when your body does not have enough of what it needs to supply your body’s energy needs. I had studied Respiratory therapy at UCLA hospital becuase it had a set of prerequisites that could be taken at Santa Monica College. Ketosis was a something that someone could be diagnosed with, based on finding keytones either in the urine or or blood. One of the things I recall learning in the Respiratory Therapy program was that a potential sign that one could be in ketosis was a fruity oder to the breath. Which caused me to wonder, could that negative (or delitirious state known as ketosis) somehow have some sort of connection with the citric acid cycle.
So, I decided to take a deep dive into the world of what I’d like to term here as:
LetsGoMeta.info
A domain originally invented in the dot.com TLD by the author of this article, Stephen C. Sanders. Unfortunately, upon closing a credit card, because I trusted a close family member with my credit card information. So I shut down the card and then due to the failed auto-renew, ended up losing the dot.com version. None the less, I invented that domain about eleven years ago. Only to see that the new owner (after Facebook changed it’s name to Meta) was now asking some $300,000 for it! As I write this I see anyone could pick up that domain for around $2,000. So I can breath a sigh of relief.
Stephen C. Sanders
The idea of the body going into ketosis is actually a very negative thing from a biological point of view. One of the meta connections that my mind makes with this idea connects with the Citric Acid Cycle, which is also known as the Kreb’s Cycle or the Electron Transport Chain. This cycle occurs in one of the organelles of every living cell, these organelles are called the Mitochondria and are the powerhouse of the cell. They make ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) which is the energy source of all living cells. These organelles normally utilize glucose as their raw material to make ATP. The energy within the glucose is within the covalent bonds of glucose ( C6H12O6 ) which through the Citric Acid Cycle in the mitochondria strips off the electrons creating CO2 and H2O. The mitochondria connects an extra phosphate molecule to the compound Adenosine Di-Phosphate (ADP) making Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP). Energy is energy required to attach the extra phosphate molecule to ADP making it into ATP. The energy between the third phosphate group (PO4) is considered a high energy bond. This molecule releases it’s high enegry when the cells use energy, turning the ATP molecule back into ADP.
The electron transport chain utilizes the electrons that are holding the Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms together and utilizing protons (which are hydrogen molecules that have been stripped of their one electron, forming new covalent bonds and making H2O (water) and CO2 (carbon dioxide). The final acceptor of the stripped electrons are Oxygen, and is called cellular respiration, when Oxygen is utilized it’s also called aerobic respiration. Therefore to balance the equation, oxygen is required to be added to the raw material side of what the mitochondrion needs in order to efficiently make ATP from ADP and Phosphate (PO4). When Oxygen is in short supply their are alternate pathways to continue to make ATP out of ADP and Phosphate, that are less efficient. When a human cell is oxygen deprived the metabolic pathway of anaerobic respiration occurs and produces lactic acid as a by product.
Lactic acid is a product of the incomplete respiration of glucose and has the formula C3H6O3 and you only have a net gain of two ATP molecules instead of a net gain of 36 ATP molecules from the complete oxidation of glucose. Lactic acid builds up in the muscles of runners for example when the delevery of Oxygen to the legs of the runner is simply not able to keep up with the energy needs of the muscle cells which require ATP to continue to function.
In summary, this lesson is a primer or introduction to cellular respiration, which is an important unit of Biology and is currently in the curriculum for New York State and is comprehensively tested in New York State regents exam.
As a possible pre-lesson warm up, student’s might be asked what they know about the word Ketogenic, and what does it mean from the point of view of nutrition.
Stephen C. Sanders has taught high school at the post secondary level in New York State.
