This may bring back memories for some of you....
In 1971, Stanford Chemistry Professor Robert Alan Weiss assembled a
troupe of dancers to demonstrate the process of protein synthesis --
and the "Protein Synthesis Dance -- an Epic on the Cellular Level" was
born!
Brimming with the exuberance of the time (: an exuberance that is
still present in the hearts and minds of many :), the video of the
Protein Synthesis Dance has been used very widely at universities,
colleges, and even some high schools to introduce the subject of
protein synthesis to students.
So here it is, in all its glory -- The Protein Synthesis Dance! (Of
course, the poem on which the narration is modelled is Lewis Carrol's
"Jabberwocky," which I've included as a PS below; also, if memory
serves, each puff of smoke you see from the GTP dancer represents a
release of energy from hydrolysis (?? It's been awhile....) ) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmqhdozuf7Y
The FULL version of the video, with a more conventional introduction
(to "people portraying molecules using the dance idiom") by
(subsequent Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner) Paul Berg (
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1980/berg-autobio.html
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Berg ), may be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dhO0iCLww&feature=related
Peace, Love, and Wholesome Protein Synthesis to you all!
P.S. You can capture most YouTube videos (in AVI format, which can be
played with the Windows Media Player, among many other players) by
using the free "VDownloader" program, available here:
http://www.vdownloader.es/
Just click the large green arrow in the lower right part of the window
to download. It's pretty easy to use and mostly intuitive.
P.S.2. Here's the text of Lewis Carrol's delightful nonsense poem,
Jabberwocky. (Not surprisingly, my spell-checker objects muchly to it
(as it does to the word 'muchly'!):
Jabberwocky
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
[end]
--
Brett
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