Molecular animations of ATP synthase

Re:Molecular animations of ATP synthase by kens on Wednesday February 29, 2012 @12:47AM (#3646609)

This molecule is an amazing machine, powered by electricity. One thing I didn't realize until recently is how fast real molecules are compared to the animations. The molecular motor in the animation spins in real life at about 40,000 RPM - jet engine fast. The small molecules drifting around are actually moving at about 250 miles per hour. And instead of a few molecules drifting around, there are billions of molecules slamming into it every second.

I wrote a blog post a while back about how fast and crowded things are inside cells, that goes into more detail on this very protein: http://www.arcfn.com/2011/07/cells-are-very-fast-and-crowded...

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Re:Molecular animations of ATP synthase by robbiep on Wednesday February 29, 2012 @01:00AM (#3646633)

Hi kens, This is actually not powered by electricity but by the gradient of hydrogen ions between the inside and outside of the mitochondrial matrix... As jballanc says, and you say, this is awesomely cool though. I use this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSyGTYCRFw to teach my future medical students the function of the ATPase - jballanc, I agree the mechanical aspect of ATP synthesis is awesome.

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Re:Molecular animations of ATP synthase by backprojection on Wednesday February 29, 2012 @12:56AM (#3646623)

Very cool. It seems fortunate that all these biological processes happen on a timescale comparable to the timescales of other processes around us - we're able to sense and think and respond about as fast as we would fall a couple of feet, so that we can land on our feet, for instance.

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