Have you ever thought, when we look at the bright blue sky, what are those blue dots move around rapidly? These dots are short-lived and vanishes away just after a second or less than that. These dots may also be elongated. This phenomenon is called 'Blue field entoptic phenomenon' or 'Scheerer's phenomenon'. We usually don't notice it unless we pay attention. These dots are highly conspicuous against a blue background instead of a sky.

                        The moving dots that we see are actually white blood cells moving in capillaries in front of the retina of the eye. Blue light is absorbed by the red blood cells that fill the capillaries. The eye and brain "edit out" the shadow line of the capillaries, partially. The white blood cells absorb blue light, creates gaps in blood column and appear as bright dots. 

EARTH'S PERFUME, GEOSMIN.

Geosmin, the chemical responsible for earthy smell after rain.

                               

                                Geosmin is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma produced by a type of Actinobacteria, and this is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when the soil is disturbed. 

Chemical structure of Geosmin

                                In chemical terms, it is a bicyclic alcohol with formula C₁₂H₂₂O. Geosmin is produced by the gram-positive bacteria Streptomyces, a genus of Actinobacteria and released when the organism dies. In 2006, the biosynthesis of geosmin by a bifunctional Streptomyces coelicolor enzyme was unveiled. A single enzyme, geosmin synthase (SCO6073 gene product) converts Fernesyl diphosphate (FPP) to geosmin in a two-step reaction (FPP → Germacardienol → Geosmin)

MATSYAGANDHA

Matsyagandha (OMIM : 602079)

                           ‘Matsyagandha’ or ‘Satyavati’ is a mythological character of the Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’. Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Santanu of Hastinapur. Daughter of the Chedi king Vasu and a cursed ‘apsara’ Adrika, Satyavati was brought up as a commoner – the adopted daughter of a fisherman-chieftain Dusharaj. Due to the smell emitted from her body, she was known as Matsyagandha (it means “she who has the smell of fish”).

                        This is comparable with Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) disease [OMIM entry 602079], which is also known as Fish-odor syndrome. TMAU results from the abnormal presence of a large amount of volatile and malodorous trimethylamine within the body. This chemical is excreted in the urine, sweat and breath which take on the offensive odor of decaying fish. Women are more likely than men to have the condition – possibly because female sex hormones such as progesterone and estrogen aggravate the symptoms.

                        Fish-odor syndrome has an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance  and is characterised by mutation of FMO3 gene (which encodes Flavin-containing Monooxygenase 3). FMO3 is present in the long arm (q) of Chromosome 1 at position 24.3 (1q24.3).

Chromosome 1

                       "Future lies in the past" :)

Hi everyone, this is Rohit. I'm a student of Biology and my major is Botany. I'll try to tell about some fun facts of biology through this blog.