Chemistry Connections

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #24  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Josh Beigman and along with Henry Stanton we are your hosts for episode #24 called The Chemistry of a Crocodile's Stomach. Today we will be discussing the Chemistry of the most powerful digestive system in the animal kingdom.

Segment 1: Introduction to The Chemistry of a Crocodile's Stomach

• Crocodiles are able to digest almost anything they eat, so they swallow their food whole and then digest it.
• Crocodile stomachs are strong enough to dissolve anything they eat, which is the whole animal. This includes meat, cartilage, and even bone. They are able to eat rotten carcasses without feeling any effect from dangerous bacteria. 
• Their stomachs have even been found to be able to dissolve steel nails. 
• We found this interesting and wanted to learn more about it, so we made a podcast episode about it.
• Crocodiles are large reptiles that prey on a variety of animals, which means that they have to be able to digest almost all kinds of animals.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind a Crocodile's Stomach

• The HCl in the stomach helps break down what the crocodile has eaten faster because the Cl- ions denature the proteins because the Hydrogen bonds that were between the proteins are now replaced by ion dipole bonds between the Cl- ions and the proteins, which is a stronger type of bond. These denatured proteins are now able to be digested by enzymes like pepsin.
• All animal stomachs use HCl to break down the food they ingest. The HCl is produced by water and carbon dioxide reacting to make H2CO3, which dissociates into H+ and HCO3-. The HCO3- are exchanged for Cl- ions through an anion exchanger. The H+ ions and Cl- ions are then pumped into the stomach and break down the food.
• The reaction to create carbonic acid, or H2CO3, is catalyzed by the presence of an enzyme called Carbonic anhydrase. 
• The difference between a crocodile's stomach and a human's stomach is the amount of acid they are able to produce.
• Crocodiles are able to produce large amounts of HCl because their hearts have (aorta) a way to redirect CO2 from the lungs and send it to the stomach instead, which allows for more H+ ions to be produced, since CO2 is necessary for its production, so having more of it allows for more H+ to be produced. The pH of a crocodile's stomach is between 1 and 3.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

We always knew that stomach acid is extremely powerful, and that some animals are able to eat just about anything and come out none the worse for it. Human stomachs can't safely digest rotten food, and yet some animals like vultures and other scavengers eat nothing but food infested with lethal bacteria. After taking AP chemistry this year, we realized we had enough knowledge to understand the process of these super strong animal stomachs, so we used this project as an opportunity to investigate this 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/02/11/2159238.htm 

https://www.britannica.com/animal/crocodile-order 

https://teachmephysiology.com/gastrointestinal-system/stomach/acid-production/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrochloric_acid 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid 

https://www.ifst.org/lovefoodlovescience/resources/protein-acid-denaturation 

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #23

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Devon Ennis and I am your host for episode 23 called the chemistry of candles. Today I will be discussing what happens to candle wax when the candle is lit and how candle wax is made. 

Segment 1: Introduction to candles

I introduce the topic by describing where the earliest candles were found, and how they were used throughout time. The purpose of candles has changed from being used as a light source to being used for the scent. I also explain some of the materials used to make candles, and ask rhetorical questions about where the wax goes when burning a candle.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind candles

Paraffin wax is made from crude oil and is the most common wax used in candles. The wick absorbs the liquid and pulls it upwards towards the flame. The heat from the flame vaporizes the wax. I also explain how the stream of white smoke after you blow out a candle is paraffin vapor that condensed into a visible form. 

The feedstock for paraffin wax is slack wax, and the first step to making paraffin wax is to remove the oil from slack wax. The slack wax is heated, mixed with one or more solvents and then cooled. As it cools, the wax crystallizes while the oil is left in the solution. The hydrocarbon C31H64 is a typical component of paraffin wax. I explain how hydrocarbon molecules of different lengths have different behaviors and properties.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

I used candles all the time, and I’ve always been interested in how candles are made. As well as what happens to the wax as it burns. I had no idea how long the hydrocarbon chains were in candle wax until I was researching it. I was also surprised to know that it was made from crude oil. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources

https://home.howstuffworks.com/question267.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/guide/739/types-of-candles.html

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/question105.htm

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #22  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Sofie Ragins and I’m here with Xavier Jimenez and we are your host for episode #22 called The Chemistry behind Advil Today we will be discussing the chemical process that occurs when consuming advil to relieve pain  

Segment 1: Introduction to Advil

Advil temporarily relieves headaches, backaches, common colds, muscle aches, and other pain. Basically, Advil is a safe non-prescription pain reliever. This means that you or I can walk into a drug store and purchase Advil without a doctor's prescription

In 2018 nearly 24 million people purchased advil. 

The one and only active ingredient that is what actually causes the pain relief, Ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen is part of a drug class called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and the name Ibuprofen is derived from isobutyl (ibu) propionic acid (pro) phenyl (fen)

Advil is dissolved in the stomach and then is absorbed by the intestinal wall in order to reach the bloodstream Eventually it reaches the areas where the synthesis of the prostaglandin is found. Prostaglandin are the fatty acids which cause the pain found near the damaged tissue. 

Okay so we have covered the background but there are a lot of things that the biology does not cover so do you want to get into the Chemistry portion of this podcast

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Advil

Of course, while I had just said ibuprofen is ‘dissolved’ in stomach acid, Ibuprofen is actually not soluble in stomach acid which we are gonna discuss as gastric acid. 

I’ll start with a little background on Ibuprofen: it is a non-polar weak acid with a pH around 4.4. Ibuprofen is most soluble with organic solvents like ethanol, methanol, aceton, and dichloromethane

Well, the non polar ibuprofen is what actually causes it to not dissolve with gastric acid. This is because Polar solutes dissolve in polar solvents and visa versus with nonpolar solutes and solvents. Knowing this principle, and that Gastric Acid is very polar it clearly indicates the nonpolar Ibuprofen will not form a solution with the polar gastric acid, this means no ibuprofen will technically be ‘dissolved’ 

Not only is ibuprofen insoluble but its molecule also has a large carbon chain. This carbon chain will create a great bond strength which is fairly difficult to break. 

The significantly high bond strength is difficult to overcome and in order for the molecule to dissolve, the solvent-solvent bonds must be broken, and solvent-solute bonds need to form. Gastric acid is extremely acidic with a pH of 1-2 and any strong acid will pull apart the intramolecular forces bonding the molecule, which is why acid is so destructive. When the acid interacts with the ibuprofen it will break the bonds just like the acid would to regular food when digested. Because the reaction relies purely on the strength of gastric acid and the ibuprofen is insoluble, 

This process will have a relatively long residence time, which means the reaction occurs at a slower rate. Now why don’t you explain the reaction rate.

This slower rate is actually caused by the high activation energy of ibuprofen. Activation energy is pretty self explanatory, it's the energy it takes to activate or start a reaction. Since we are talking about the reaction rate of Ibuprofen we should talk about the activation energy of it. When it comes to thermodynamically favorable reactions with a high activation energy they theoretically should occur because when the reaction is thermodynamically favorable, it's favored to react.. Going back to ibuprofen, The required temperature for it to begin reacting is around 800 degrees fahrenheit. 

Ibuprofen is a nonselective inhibitor of an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (syclo-oxygen-naise)

This enzyme is required for the synthesis of ibuprofen in the acid pathway

The enzyme plays a major role in getting this reaction to occur.

Because the activation energy of ibuprofen is fairly large the reaction is unlikely to happen at the temperature of our stomach which is around 100 degrees fahrenheit.

The enzyme's job is to create another way for the chemical reaction to occur more rapidly, this alternate path length allows for the reaction to occur at with a lower activation energy as well. 

Without the enzyme it would be likely the ibuprofen wouldn’t react rendering it useless.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

Being an athlete I tend to always be injured and throughout the season to keep me on the court I’m always taking Advil. I have a travel size bottle in all my bags and I would have to sit if it weren’t for having advil. I have taken Advil plenty of times myself but never really understood how it works. Something so commonly used by many people holds a lot of importance. You swallow it with some water and your pain can be relieved for hours. Something so basic actually requires a quite complex process and we both were curious to understand how chemistry played a role in Advil from start to finish.

When I think of Advil, I usually remember all the times I used to take it for headaches. I Have struggled with sleep my whole life, and therefore would always have headaches because headaches can be caused by dehydration, blood flow, and lack of sleep. When we have issues in these certain areas, they become inflamed. Advil has always been there for me with my struggles when I would have migraines every since 2nd grade, and always helped me. Advil’s anti-inflammatory properties help relieve the pain, however there is just so much chemistry involved with it, which makes Advil seem magical. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources

https://www.ausetute.com.au/ibuprofen.html

https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i50/Making-Ibuprofen-Three-Minutes.html 

https://www.advil.com/our-products/advil-tablets/ 

https://www.scirp.org/html/2-1010111_44499.htm 

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #21

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Alex Scott and I am your host for episode #21, Cookware Chemistry and Glowing Glass. Today I will be discussing the history and chemistry behind uranium glass.

Segment 1: Introduction to Uranium Glass

Introduce the episode topic

Include definitions, vocabulary, interesting background information and context

• So today we’re talking about uranium glass, but we have to start much more in the abstract
• There’s a few different terms used to describe the glass I’m talking about:
• Depression glass: produced from 1929–1939, often clear or colored translucent machine-made glassware distributed free, or at low cost, in the United States and Canada around the tim e of the Great Depression.
• Elegant glass: Depression glass that was at least partially handmade, had a cleaner finish, and more vibrant colors, same time period
• Uranium glass: glass which has had a uranium metal oxide added to a glass mix before melting for coloration
• Vaseline Glass: uranium glass of a yellow or green translucent color
• Generally, uranium glass can be identified by shining blacklight on it, as it will fluoresce a bright green
• Context & History
• The oldest recorded use is at least 79 AD, in a yellow piece of glass in a Roman mosaic, but it became most popular in the mid 19th century
• Generally, the most recognized industrial uranium glass producer is Austrian Franz Xaver Riedel
• He named the 2 colors annagelb and annagrun, for his wife Anna & the German words for yellow and green.
• Produced variety of items, worked in modern day Dolni Polubni, Bohemia
• By the 1840s, many other European glassworks began to produce uranium glass items and developed new varieties of uranium glass
• In the US, Most glassware was made in the Ohio River Valley, where access to raw materials and power made manufacturing inexpensive
• It was commonly used as a coloring agent for green American Depression glass during the early 20th century
• Use in the US stopped partway through WWII when the US confiscated uranium supplies 

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Uranium Glass

Have a natural transition into an example… no need to say “segment 2”

Provide detailed explanations of the chemistry that is related to your topic.

Remember that you must have a minimum of 2 topics from ap chem that you can explain here as related to your episode

• Why was uranium oxide used to make the glass green?
• Metal oxides make glass different colors
• Why?: reflect a specific wavelength and absorb all the others
• Why does it fluoresce under UV light?
• Takes the energy from ultraviolet light
• Excites molecules, so in order to bring electrons back to lower energy state, it releases a photon of light

Segment 3: Personal Connections

• Interested because:
• my parents are avid antique glass collectors
• My parents especially love green Depression Glass
• I wanted to know what made it that color
• Tested my own cabinet to see what was and wasn't uranium AND MOST OF IT WAS
• It’s strange that radioactive materials were so popular for cookware
• Stranger that I’ve eaten off of it on holidays and family gatherings
• The history is so strange

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

List your sources here. Make sure they are linked. Wikipedia cannot count for more than 50% of your sources.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_glass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass

https://dustyoldthing.com/uranium-glass-spotlight/

http://www.glassassociation.org.uk/sites/default/files/WEBSITE%20Uranium%20Glass%20website%20%282%29.pdf

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/these-people-love-to-collect-radioactive-glass/

https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer%20products/vaseline.htm

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #20  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Mari Kwak and I am your host for episode #20 called Drug induced Parkinson’s. Today I will be discussing how poorly made “synthetic Heroin” can induce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in users within one use.

Segment 1: Introduction to Synthetic Heroin and Parkinson’s Disease

• Parkinson’s disease is a genetically inherited disorder of the central nervous system, which affects body movement. Over the past 8 or so years, outbreaks of induced parkinson's have been found in California, Maryland, Vancouver, and British Columbia. 
• This synthetic heroin powder containing MPTP is usually either dissolved in water and injected into the bloodstream or snorted.
• Unlike other effects of drugs which take consistent usage over a period of time, this new synthetic drug has caused irreversible symptoms of Parkinson’s within the first use. 
• Some symptoms of induced Parkinson’s observed in patients are difficulty moving, rigidity, resting tremor, flexed posture, and loss of postural reflexes.
• The heroin powder itself, otherwise known as MPPP, does not cause Parkinson's, it's the MPTP that is a byproduct of synthetic heroin that causes Parkinson's-like symptoms. 
• This background info comes from a CDC article with data from The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health.  

Chemistry time:

• The chemical compound N-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine, MPTP, is the accidental byproduct of MPPP, a synthetic opium drug. 
• MPTP itself is not toxic, but when it oxidizes into MPP+ after it breaks the skin barrier, it becomes toxic. 
• The MAO-B enzyme contained in astrocytes and serotonergic neurons reacts with MPTP in a redox reaction. MAO-B acts as a catalyst, to help facilitate the oxidation reaction of MPTP. First, MPTP is oxidized, by losing an electron, to become the chemical MPDP+. From there, more MAO-B oxidizes MPDP+ into MPP+, by losing another election. The final product, MPP+, is the toxic chemical found to induce Parkinson's. 
• Why is MPP+ so toxic, you may be wondering? Well… I personally do not know but science considers
• MPP+ is considered toxic because it kills dopamine-producing neurons, which have a high affinity for MPP+. → meaning that MPP+ and dopamine-producing neurons are attracted to each other.
• Since they have a high affinity, the dopamine transmitter (DAT) takes MPP+ up to DA neutrons, where MPP+ uses its neurotoxicity to interrupt the complex I respiratory chain. The complex I respiratory chain is responsible for catalysing the electron transfer between coenzymes, which are essential for cells to function normally. 
• Catalysts, like the complex I respiratory chain, increase the rate of reactions, by lowering the activation energy of the reaction. Since the complex I respiratory chain is interrupted, the electron transfers between two essential coenzymes will happen at too slow a rate for these cells to continue functioning. 
• When these dopamine-producing neurons cannot function properly, they cause disorders like Parkinson’s
•  In one autopsy of a drug user, MPTP appears to have destroyed the substantia nigra’s nerve cells located in the center bottom of the brain.
• The pathway from the substantia nigra to signal the rest of the brain is made up of dopamine using neurons, which are severely damaged by MPP+. 
• The substantia nigra controls body movement and control so, the destruction of substantia nigra’s nerve cells from MPP+ causes the patient to lose body control and struggle with body movement.  
• Defects in this area of the brain are seen in both Parkinson’s patients and drug users who ingested MPTP.  
• The chemical reaction that destroys nerve cells after MPTP is ingested with synthetic heroin, is responsible for inducing Parkinson's-like symptoms in drug users. 

Segment 3: Personal Connections 

My old coach was trafficking drugs, including heroin, across the country with her son, and I was always wondering how underground chemists, AKA illegal drug makers, make large batches of drugs without lots of failures. It turns out that they do.

• I found it interesting to learn about different byproducts that are accidentally created in the formation of different drugs
•  It's also interesting that medication/drugs can inadvertently mimic a genetic disorder that has no cure or solution. 
• Although MPTP is not good, it could help chemists and pharma personal understand Parkinson’s disease better
• Potentially lead to a cure or further preventative measures to stop symptoms before they develop.   

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

List your sources here. Make sure they are linked. Wikipedia cannot count for more than 50% of your sources.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27974/#:~:text=Hydroxyl%20and%20other%20free%20radical,content%2C%20as%20observed%20in%20rodents.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000360.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPTP 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27974/ 

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #19

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Jayson Shin and I am your host for episode #19 called Advil, Aleve, Tylenol- There’s Chemistry Behind Them All. Today we will be discussing how pain medicines function and what they do to inhibit pain on the molecular level.

Segment 1: Introduction to The Chemistry of Pain Medicine

When you bruise your elbow, pull a muscle, or just downright feel sick, what’s your number one instinct? Well maybe you’d say ice or taking your temperature, but I’m talking about pain medicine. Pain medicine comes in various forms and products such as Advil, Aleve, and Tylenol just to name a few, but they all have the same function- relieve pain and bring body temperature closer to normal.  

So let’s start off with what pain essentially is. It’s the body’s natural response to trauma or imbalance, which we feel as physical pain or discomfort. What happens when a part of the body is injured is a chemical known as prostaglandins are released. These prostaglandins essentially bind with various receptors to stimulate different bodily functions, such as proliferating blood clotting at the site of a contusion. However, these molecules are released as a result of chemical reactions in the body that utilize enzymes known as cyclooxygenase. As we know, enzymes serve to function similar to catalysts in that they can either lower activation energies for reactions or provide quicker, alternative pathways for reactions to produce prostaglandins. Now where pain medicines come in is they bind with the cyclooxygenase enzyme in order to inhibit it from accelerating reactions to produce prostaglandins. As a result, our body’s response to pain is decreased.  

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Pain Medicine

Now let’s really think about it. When you first think of pain medicine, you most likely think, “Oh I’ll take a pill and it’ll lower my fever” or “Oh my arm’s gonna feel better after I take a few pills of aspirin.” However, we never know why it works or think about how the pain medicine makes these changes to our bodies. So we’ll look at aspirin for example. You take an aspirin and it kicks in in about 15 minutes, and your symptoms of illness or pain from an injury decrease a bit. How does this happen? Aspirin binds with the enzyme cyclooxygenase in the body. As a result, the enzyme is occupied by a different species, and therefore cannot react with other reactants to produce prostaglandins. Let’s look at what the aspirin actually does to inhibit the production of prostaglandins.  

As we all know, enzymes are a form of catalyst that help to proliferate the rate of reaction. In inhibiting the function of enzymes, by occupying them, less substrates are able to reach essential activation energy in order to undergo a reaction and create the prostaglandins products. What occurs in a reaction to produce prostaglandins is the cyclooxygenase enzyme binds with arachidonic acid substrates. As a result, the strength of the arachidonic acid bonds are altered in a way that they become weaker. Therefore, the activation energy required to carry out the reaction is lowered, and more substrates reach sufficient activation energy that way. When these cyclooxygenase enzymes are occupied instead by aspirin molecules, they are unable to accelerate the reaction to produce prostaglandins, and therefore, our body has less of a pain response.

Aspirin’s chemical formula is C9H8O4. At the end of an aspirin molecule, there is an acetyl group with a chemical formula of CH3CO. This portion of the molecule is what bonds to the cyclooxygenase enzyme in order to inhibit it from reacting to produce prostaglandin molecules. Now cyclooxygenase is a large, very complex lipid molecule that consists of a tremendously large carbon chain. What is important to isolate however is the serine group on the molecule, with a chemical formula C3H7NO3. Between the acetyl group on the aspirin molecule and the serine group on the cyclooxygenase molecule, a hydrogen bond is able to be formed. Structurally, there is an OH at the end of the serine molecule and a CO at the end of the acetyl group. The bond occurs between the H on the OH portion of the serine molecule and the O on the CO portion of the acetyl group. Evidently, hydrogen bonds are extremely strong, generally speaking, they are the strongest type of intermolecular force. As a result, the cyclooxygenase is occupied by a different molecule leaving it unable to separate easily and help catalyze the reaction to produce prostaglandins.  

Segment 3: Personal Connections

So why am I interested in this topic? As an athlete, I’ve faced various injuries through my career, far more than a typical high school baseball player. I’ve had a plethora of pain and have had to take medicine left and right, whether it was Advil, Tylenol, or prescribed drugs following surgery. Freshman year, I had a torn labrum in my shoulder, causing me to miss the entire season and undergo surgery. I had to take pain medicine every day for a month at least to dampen the pain. During my sophomore year of baseball I had rotator cuff impingement in my shoulder making throwing painful. I had to take Advil frequently. In my junior year and senior year, I tore the labrums in both shoulders and I recall taking about 2 advil daily before a game in order to be able to play. From taking so much pain relief medicine, I always wondered how it worked. I had theorized that the medicine possibly produces a reaction to reduce pain, when in fact, it instead lessens the body’s pain response by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins.  

Evidently, it is important to understand the true function of pain medicines because we must be aware of what we put inside of our bodies. Any time we put a foreign substance within our bodies, it is always a risk. Therefore, becoming educated on what pain medicines do exactly is imperative to know its safety and proper usage.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

List your sources here. Make sure they are linked. Wikipedia cannot count for more than 50% of your sources.

https://patient.info/treatment-medication/painkillers 

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Biological_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Biological_Chemistry)/Lipids/Fatty_Acids/Prostaglandins#:~:text=Functions%20of%20Prostaglandins,-There%20are%20a&text=Activation%20of%20the%20inflammatory%20response%2C%20production%20of%20pain%2C%20and%20fever.&text=A%20type%20of%20prostaglandin%20called,clots%20should%20not%20be%20forming. 

https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/prostaglandins/#:~:text=The%20prostaglandins%20are%20a%20group,and%20the%20induction%20of%20labour. 

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #18  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is JACQUELINE SUN and I am your host for episode #18 called The Chemistry of Lake Karachay. Today I will be discussing what is arguably the most polluted and undoubtedly the most radioactively contaminated lake in the world, Lake Karachay, as well as the chemistry behind what made it that way in the first place.

Segment 1: Introduction to Lake Karachay

The history behind why Lake Karachay earned its name as the most polluted place on earth is convoluted and widely unknown.

• Karachay is a small lake less than 1 square mile in area located in Central Russia in the Ural Mountains. 
• In 1951, near the beginning of the Cold War, the Soviet Union dumped radioactive waste from the nearby, secret nuclear facility Mayak into Lake Karachay.
• The Mayak reactor was built between 1946 and 1948 in total secrecy from the outerworld. Its purpose was to create radioactive material, primarily plutonium, that would allow the Soviets to build up a nuclear arsenal matching that of the US. 
• The results of this reactor and many other’s efforts could be seen in the Soviet’s successful detonation of their first atomic bomb in 1949.
• However, afterward, there was much toxic nuclear waste remaining. Without regulation or regard for safety, the Soviet government directed for the radioactive waste either to be stored in underground tanks or to be disposed of in nearby water reservoirs.
• Lake Karachay was the closest lake to Mayak, making it the primary dumping point.
• From this point on, Lake Karachay’s radioactive levels rose sharply.
• Lake Karachay accumulated 4.4 exabecquerels of radiation after the dumping. That is about 4 quintillion (which is 10^18) becquerels, or 10 billion curies of radiation. For reference, the Chernobyl disaster released over 5 exabecquerels of radiation. However, Karachay was theoretically more dangerous because of the type of radiation it released, Caesium-137, which had a greater radioactive impact on its surroundings.
• In 1990, it was reported that standing by the shore of Lake Karachay for just less than an hour would provide enough radiation to kill you.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Lake Karachay

WHAT IS RADIATION?

• Radiation is clearly a highly deadly and complex process. It all centers around nuclear chemistry, or chemical modifications made directly to the nucleus of an atom. 
• Nuclear reactions are different from chemical reactions in that chemical reactions really only involve changes and transfers in electrons, causing chemical compounds to be formed or rearranged. Nuclear reactions center around changes in the protons and neutrons located in the nucleus, which have the potential to release significant amounts of energy.
• When the number of protons is changed, the element is changed from one to another. When the number of neutrons is changed, the element remains the same, but an isotope is created. These changes are called transmutations.
• Transmutation is often spontaneous, or thermodynamically favorable, because nuclei naturally seek stability, or lower levels of potential energy. This is a similar concept to the octet rule in chemical reactions, or how atoms seek a full valence shell of electrons to reach their most stable state. Nuclear reactions will occur so that atoms may achieve a certain combination of protons and neutrons that stabilize the nucleus. 
• Therefore, an unstable nuclei may release protons and neutrons, leading to its decomposition and the formation of a different nucleus. This process is known as radioactive decay, or radioactivity. The often large quantities of energy released during this time is called ionizing radiation, and it is in the form of alpha and beta particles and gamma rays, with the degree of penetration and strength increasing from alpha to gamma.
• It is important to note that radioactive decay reactions are first order reactions. This means that the reaction rate is directly dependent on the concentration of the reactant, or the radioactive substance. This also means that the rate of decrease in the concentration of the substance also decreases over time, because the reaction rate decreases as the concentration decreases. Due to this phenomenon, radioactive decay reactions have constant half-lives, which is the amount of time it takes for one-half of the number of nuclei in a sample of a radioactive substance to decay. However, different nuclear substances have different half-lives. For example, 100g of plutonium-239, with a half life of 24,100 years, will take that amount of time to deteriorate to 50g of plutonium-239. It will then take another 24,100 years to deteriorate to 25g of plutonium-239. In the case of Lake Karachay, Caesium-137 was the main radioactive substance accumulated, which has a half-life of 30.17 years. After 30.17 years, half of the Caesium-137 decays into metastable barium-137, which has a half life of around 2.6 minutes. After 2.6 minutes, metastable barium-137 decays to ground state barium-137, where it is stable and no longer decays.
• During this decay period, large amounts of ionizing radiation in the form of beta particles and gamma rays were emitted. 
• Certain combinations of half-lives and amounts of ionizing radiation are what makes nuclear substances so dangerous.
• This is because a shorter half-life means a higher rate of decomposition, which means more energy is being released in a shorter period of time. When combined with a high level of ionizing radiation, dangerous, potentially lethal amounts of energy could be produced, bombarding the surroundings. This was the case with Karachay, whose high energy beta particles and gamma rays easily penetrated their surroundings and disrupted the internal functions of nearby organisms.

HOW DOES RADIATION IMPACTS HUMANS?

• The radioactive substances, primarily Caesium-137, in the lakebed of Lake Karachay irradiated over half a million people in the nearby vicinity. Many came into contact with it through everyday use, such as drinking or watering crops. There was also a catastrophe when a windstorm blew radioactive sediment dust over a wide radius, affecting many residents.
• Radiation can cause much surface-level damage such as burns, sores, and nausea. More ominously, however, radiation can permanently alter the chemical composition of DNA, leading to mutations, cancer, and death.
• DNA consists of two helical strands.
• An individual strand is supported by a sugar-phosphate backbone. Within this backbone are phosphodiester bonds, which are intramolecular covalent bonds that bind together the sugars and phosphate groups. Covalent bonds are formed by a relatively even sharing of electrons between two nonmetals: in the case of DNA, a carbon from the sugar is linked to an oxygen in the phosphate group.
• The two strands of DNA are held together by intermolecular hydrogen bonds between nitrogenous base pairs in DNA. Pairs can only form between a pyrimidine and purine base. Hydrogen bonds are formed between a hydrogen atom and a fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atom. However, the hydrogen atom must be bonded covalently to either a fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atom as well. In the case of base pairings, there will be two hydrogen bonds formed between an oxygen and a hydrogen atom and one hydrogen bond formed between a nitrogen and hydrogen atom.
• The Caesium-137 radiation emitted by Karachay damaged the local residents’ DNA by disrupting these bonds. The ionizing radiation first randomly knocked valence electrons out of their atomic shells. The valence electrons could be more easily removed, or ionized, because they were a further distance from the positive charged nucleus and experienced more shielding, decreasing coulombic attractions. As a result, the atoms became highly unstable ions. At such high levels of potential energy, ions underwent thermodynamically favorable reactions that disrupted the hydrogen and covalent bonds in DNA, inducing single and double stranded breaks. This derailed the vital structure of DNA, leading to mutations, which then often lead to cancer due to failure to undergo apoptosis, or programmed cell death. 
• At the time of irradiation, there had been a 41% increase in the rate of leukemia, 21% increase in the rate of cancers, and 25% increase in the rate of birth defects.
• Even today, the effects of the radiation can still be seen. In the city of Ozersk near Lake Karachay, the life expectancy is around 50 years, which is exceedingly low compared to the world average of 72 years.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

Even though its threat level was comparable with other well-known nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, Lake Karachay is not widely known. In fact, information on it remained classified by the Russian Government until the late 80s. The local residents of the lake had been in the dark about the so-called “mysterious illness” that had been afflicting them, not knowing that it was radiation poisoning. Lake Karachay shows just how impactful nuclear warfare can be even in “non-war” times and environments and why steps should be taken to rid the world of nuclear threats and influence. Today, Lake Karachay is covered by cement blocks in an effort to prevent the further irradiation of the environment and nearby residents. Even if the incident is quietly literally buried in the past, it is imperative to bring it to light to make sure the same mistakes are never made again. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

• https://grist.org/article/meet-the-lake-so-polluted-that-spending-an-hour-there-would-kill-you/
• https://www.businessinsider.com/welcome-to-the-most-polluted-place-on-earth-2015-8
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Karachay#:~:text=The%20lake%20accumulated%20some%204.44,0.74%20EBq%20of%20strontium%2D90.&text=As%20of%20December%202016%2C%20the,blocks%2C%20rock%2C%20and%20dirt.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQCfOjhguO0&t=783s&ab_channel=BRIGHTSIDEBRIGHTSIDEVerified
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium-137
• https://www.rerf.or.jp/en/about_radiation/how_radiation_harms_cells_e/

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #17  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, our names are Samhita and Hana and we are your hosts for episode 17 called the chemistry behind coffee. Today we will be discussing how chemistry affects the production of coffee. 

Segment 1: Introduction to Chemistry Behind Coffee

Coffee is indigenous to countries such as Ethiopia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, Mexico, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Coffee beans came to be through a story of an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi. When the goats he took care of started to wander, Kaldi found them consuming red berries they had found, Kaldi then gave these berries to a local monk to find out what it was. The local monk gave the berries to religious individuals who found themselves with more energy after consuming them. This was then used to keep people from falling asleep during evening prayer and was later found to be coffee beans. Coffee consists of beans originated from Coffea Arabica, which actually makes up 75% of the world’s production of coffee. The cultivation and trade of coffee began in the Arabian peninsula and soon started to become popular in the homes of those in the Middle East. From the Middle East, coffee spread to other countries in the 16th century to countries such as Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Flavored coffee was introduced when regular coffee was introduced in the mid 15th century. Middle Easterners would often blend coffee with different nuts and spices to enhance the flavor. Coffee is harvested in almost every tropical country within 1000 miles of the equator. Out of the 70 species of coffee that exist, only 3 are cultivated, meaning their beans are either raw, roasted, or whole for the making of coffee. During the roasting process of coffee beans, they undergo a chemical reaction introducing about 800 compounds, ⅓ of which make up aromatic compounds. 

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Chemistry Behind Coffee

As the beans go into the roaster, there is a decrease in temperature with the reaction being endothermic, meaning it is absorbing energy and that energy is used to evaporate water. Le Chatelier's Principle is used to explain how, once a reaction is at equilibrium, it can be stressed by changing variables in which case it is no longer at equilibrium. The reaction will shift to undo the stress placed on the reaction. We can use Le Chatelier's Principle to support that considering there is a decrease in temperature as the beans go into the roaster, the tendency of the reaction will be to go towards the side where there is no heat, which is the product in this case because the reaction is endothermic, meaning the heat is located on the side of the reactants. The result of this is that the reaction will want to increase the temperature because of that disturbance to return the reaction to a state of equilibrium. The bitter taste of coffee is produced during the roasting process. Heat and atoms have the ability to change the flavor of coffee while it is roasting but the biggest player in the staling of coffee is oxygen. When a solution comes in contact with oxygen it changes the molecular structure. Oxygen pulls away electrons from the other molecules. Since there are an uneven number of electrons, the molecules become unstable. They then begin to react with other molecules around them and this is an example of an intermolecular force called covalent bonding. Covalent bonding occurs between polar molecules that share electrons unequally. It is also an example of an intermolecular force, which is a force that holds molecules together and covalent bonding is one of the stronger ones. Coffee goes stale and reduces the aroma or flavor of coffee. This process doesn’t have to happen with the air that’s being trapped in the coffee machine but it can happen with the water that’s added to the ground coffee. Also, Oxidation occurs more at a high temperature. This is relevant when talking about the staling of coffee. The reason behind the staling of coffee has to do with oxidation. Oxidation is the process by which oxygen loses electrons. The oxygen reacts with the hydrogen, so that water is created. The hydrogen ion by itself makes the coffee more acidic. When the water is first being added to ground coffee, the hydrogen reacts with the oxygen, and the pH of the coffee rises, making it less acidic. Many different acids exist in ground coffee, some of which include phosphoric acid, malic acid, and acetic acid. Acids give off their hydrogen ion in a reaction known as a hydrolysis reaction. A lower pH means a higher acidity while a higher pH means a lower acidity. The pH of the original coffee is between 5.0 and 5.4 ( so its acidic) but its acidity can drop to 4.6 if it is kept hot for 2-3 hours, which is also why it’s advised to drink coffee fresh. 

Segment 3: Personal Connections

My family and I buy different kinds of coffee beans from Starbucks. My sister and I go to Starbucks at least twice a week, so I was interested in why and how different flavors are created with the explanation of chemistry. I found it interesting how different flavors of coffee were invented at the same time as regular coffee. Everytime my sister and I go to stop and shop we buy different flavored syrups and creamers to enhance the taste of our coffee. Knowing little about the coffee world, and being an avid coffee drinker, I wanted to know more about coffee beans and how they were produced to become such a staple in American households. I was surprised to learn that 75% of the world’s coffee actually comes from coffee arabia and originated in the Middle East. Along with this, it was a topic both Samhita and I were passionate about so we would both be interested in learning more about coffee, its background, and its chemical aspects. This topic is important to us because it’s something that most people consume many times every day. It’s important that people know what they are consuming. Chemistry is all about explaining how the world around us works and learning about the chemistry of coffee is one way to bring together the chemistry we have learned this year and apply it to our everyday lives.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

https://cen.acs.org/articles/85/i38/Tweaking-Coffees-Flavor-Chemistry.html

https://www.reagent.co.uk/the-chemistry-of-coffee/

https://www.zmescience.com/science/domestic-science/science-scientists-public-30012015/

https://handground.com/grind/the-chemistry-of-grinding-coffee-beans#:~:text=The%20Maillard%20Reaction%20is%20responsible,that%20give%20coffee%20its%20brightness.

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Flavored-Coffee-Bean.html

https://www.intechopen.com/books/coffee-production-and-research/a-detail-chemistry-of-coffee-and-its-analysis

https://www.coffeechemistry.com/chemical-changes-during-roasting

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #16  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Saarim Rizavi and I am your host for episode #16 called The Chemistry Behind Bad Habits. Today I will be discussing everything there is to know behind the formation of bad habits. I’ll first be going over exactly what habits are and more specifically what a bad habit is, and I’ll also be giving a brief description into why bad habits are formed in the first place. Afterwards, I’ll dive deep into the actual science behind habit formation which consists of topics mainly from neuroscience and as a result, chemistry which is foundational for neuroscience. In this segment, I’ll also be discussing the involvement and function of different parts of the brain in habit formation. Finally, I’ll be sharing my own personal connection to negative habits and why this topic really interests me and why the field of neuroscience and neurobiology and neuropsychology interest me as a whole. Let’s get started!

Segment 1: Introduction to Habits & Habit Formation

There are many ways you can define habits but the generally agreed upon definition is that they are rituals and behaviors that are performed automatically, allowing us to perform activities without thinking about them. They are actions that you do without having to decide if you want to do them each time you commence the action. Oftentimes, you don’t even really realize that you are doing that particular action; it just kind of happens and you don’t really know or understand why. Let’s first understand the concept of good and bad habits because the title of this podcast is, the chemistry behind bad habits so what do I mean by bad habits? By bad habits, I mean habits that are harmful to your mental and/or physical health. The most common ones are for sure smoking, drugs, excessive viewing of your phone or other electronic devices, drinking alcohol often, and eating more than you’re supposed to. Even things like procrastination, drinking coffee, and swearing are considered bad habits. Let’s use the excessive viewing of your phone example. When many people wake up, the first thing they do is go on their phones and start browsing instagram, or youtube, or text messages and it’s kind of like a ritual that is done every morning. You just do it without really thinking about why you’re doing it and so it is a habit. It is a bad habit because viewing your phone a lot results in eye strain, possible neck pain, sleep problems, and I won’t get into this, but social media is known to affect mental health in negative ways. So, in general, how does something like this become a habit, especially if it is affecting you in a negative way? Most psychologists go to the habit loop to explain this and will say that this neurological loop underlies all habits. The loop consists of a cue, a routine, and a reward. A cue is basically anything that triggers the habit by reminding you of it or initiating it. Cues can be a location, a time of day, an emotional state, and more. The cue tells our brains to go into this automatic processing mode or this routine, the routine being the actual habit. The habit, the first several times it is done, is done consciously and you choose to do that action but over time as a result of the reward, it becomes automatic. It is known as a routine because whenever a cue triggers the habit, you start following this routine that your brain has developed. The series of actions that make up the routine is the same or very similar every time the habit is unconsciously put into action. The reward provides positive reinforcement for the desired behavior, making it more likely that you will produce that behavior in the future. Once your brain associates a behavior with a reward, you begin to develop a craving for that reward which can become an addiction.Your nervous system is continuously monitoring which actions satisfy your desires, even if they affect you in a harmful way over time. Many scientists also believe that you are most vulnerable to fall to bad habits during times of stress and negative emotions since you oftentimes don’t have the willpower to prevent such behaviors from forming and mainly because at those times when you often run out of mental energy, our prefrontal cortex disengages, which is the part of the brain that is used for higher level thinking, and so you slip into habits because they take less mental energy and activity. It should also be noted that a process called chunking is the root of habits, which is a process in which the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine and it is essentially a way that the brain saves effort. Habits enable our brain to work less and be more efficient since you don’t have to concentrate on every component of the routine. The disadvantage with chunking is that when you continue to chunk something, the routine becomes outcome independent and over time, the chunked actions are performed without the need for a positive reward and this is what really results in a hard to break habit. The science behind this process of chunking will also be explained in a bit.

This was an introduction into habit and habit formation and you guys should now have an understanding of what a bad habit is and how they generally form. Now, let’s get into the actual science behind habit formation which again, will include topics from neuroscience and chemistry.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Habit Formation

So, let’s get into it. Habit formation involves learned associations between an event and a behavioral response. Before we develop an automatic habit, we begin with an actual goal-directed behavior that involves complex thinking. The goal of habit formation is essentially so that the brain is able to free up processing space so that the thinking requirement for the routine that makes up the habit is turned off so that now the brain is free and can process other pieces of information. Habits are advantageous as they decrease the mental activity needed for mundane tasks. So what happens in the brain is, while learning goal-directed associations, connections between the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for higher level cognitive functions like thinking and planning, and the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that controls voluntary movements and emotional expressions, change their activity to reflect a more automatic association. A signal arises during the early learning process in the dorsolateral striatum region of the basal ganglia. This part of the brain is able to chunk the task-related events together so the whole sequence of tasks becomes one single task. Neurons related to the task fire at the beginning and end of the task and as a result, the entire task is represented as a single event (at the beginning of the learning process, the neurons in striata emit a continuous string of signals but as actions begin to consolidate into habitual movements, the neurons fire their signals only at the beginning and end of the action performed). With repetition of the task, the strength of the chunked representation increases.

This was obviously a little confusing but a simple way to think about it is this: New neural pathways are formed when you repeat a behavior and the more a brain circuit fires, the easier it becomes for our brain to do whatever that circuit controls. As a result, information would then flow in a new, different way. Neural pathways are made of neurons connected by dendrites and dendrites increase with frequency when a behavior is performed. Neurons communicate through a process called neuronal firing, which is where the chemistry aspect can now come in. Besides containing all the normal components of a cell like a nucleus and organelles, and such, neurons also contain unique structures for receiving and sending electrical signals that make neural communication and signaling possible. Like other cells, neurons each have a cell body or soma that contains a nucleus, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, a golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and other cellular components. Neurons also have dendrites, which are branch-like structures extending away from the cell body, and their job is to receive messages from other neurons and allow those messages to travel to the cell body. Neurons also contain tube-like structures called axons. These carry electrical impulses from the cell body or from another cell’s dendrites to the structures at the opposite end of the neuron, known as an axon terminal, which can then pass the impulse to another neuron. Neurons also contain synapses which are chemical junctions between the axon terminals of one neuron and the dendrites of another. It is a space between two neurons where they can pass messages to communicate. Neurons exist in a fluid environment - they are surrounded by extracellular fluid and contain intracellular fluid. The neuronal membrane keeps these two fluids separate which is important because the electrical signal that passes through the neuron develops as a result of these intracellular and extracellular fluids being electrically different. This difference in charge across the membrane, called the membrane potential, provides energy for the signal. The electrical charge of the fluids is possible due to the ions potassium and sodium dissolved in the fluid, which are known as electrolytes (they give the fluids the ability to conduct electricity since these dissociated ions freely move in the solution, allowing a charge to flow through the solution). A change or shift in this charge across the cell is very significant in cell communication). The semi permeable nature of the neuronal membrane somewhat restricts the movement of these charged molecules, and as a result, some of the charged particles tend to become more concentrated either inside or outside the cell. Between signals, the neuron’s membrane potential is in a state of readiness known as the resting potential. In this state, sodium and potassium ions (ions are just atoms that have lost or gained an electron and so they are now positively or negatively charged) are lined up on either side of the cell membrane, ready to rush across the membrane when the neuron goes active and the membrane opens its gates (ions in high concentration ready to go to low concentration areas and positive ions ready to move to areas with negative charge due to coulombic attractions. A coulombic attraction is simply an attraction that occurs between oppositely charged particles). A sodium-potassium pump allows this movement of ions across the membrane. The sodium potassium pump is an enzyme that transports sodium and potassium ions across the cell membrane against their concentration gradients in a ratio of 3 sodium ions out for every 2 potassium ions in. In order for it to function, the pump alternates between 2 major conformations: enzyme 1 and enzyme 2. In the enzyme 1 conformation, the metal binding sites have high affinity for metal cations (meaning that the metal binding sites bind to metal cations more easily) while in the enzyme 2 conformation, the metal binding sites have a lower affinity for metal ions, meaning they are less likely to bind with them. In the resting state, sodium ions are at a higher concentration outside the cell so they will tend to move into the cell while potassium ions are more concentrated inside the cell and so will move out of the cell. The inside of the cell is slightly more negatively charged compared to the outside of the cell in the resting state and so this also causes sodium to move into the cell due to Coulomb's law and the attraction of Na+ ions to the negative ionic charge inside the cell. From this resting potential state, the neuron receives a signal at the dendrites, in the form of a chemical messenger known as a neurotransmitter which binds to a chemical receptor on the dendrite. Neurotransmitters bind to receptors via intramolecular or intermolecular forces including ionic bonds (bonds that result from the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions), hydrogen bonds (intermolecular force which occurs between 2 molecules where in one of the molecules, a hydrogen is bonded to a nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine atom and the 2nd molecule contains a net dipole with an oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine. The hydrogen of that first molecule is attracted to the partially negative O, N or F, of the second molecule), dipole-dipole forces (attractive forces that exist between polar molecules), and even london dispersion forces (temporary attractive force that results when the electron in 2 adjacent atoms occupy position that make the atoms form temporary dipoles. By dipoles, I mean partially positive and partially negative poles of the atom). Generally, neurotransmitters are molecules made up of covalent bonds and so their partially positive poles or partially negative poles are attracted to the charge of the receptor protein. So as a result of this binding, small pores open on the neuronal membrane, allowing sodium ions to move into the cell propelled by charge differences (clear instance of Coulomb's law in action) but also concentration differences. This then causes the internal charge of the cell to become more positive (since sodium ions are cations which are ions with a positive charge) which is a process known as depolarization - the charge reaches a certain level called the threshold of excitation and then the neuron becomes active and the action potential begins. An action potential is essentially a rapid change in polarity that moves along the nerve fiber from neuron to neuron as the internal charge of the cell changes from partially negative to partially positive. Many additional pores open, causing a massive influx of sodium ions (cations) and a huge positive spike in the membrane potential, known as the peak action potential. At this peak, the sodium gates close and the potassium gates open and potassium ions leave the cell. This ultimately results in the neuron’s membrane returning to its resting state. This is known as repolarization, which is another change in polarity which results in the restoration of a negative membrane potential of the neuron, meaning the inside of the neuron is partially negative inside. The action potential is an electrical signal that moves from the cell body down the axon to the axon terminals. The action potential is propagated at its full strength at every point along the axon due to the action potential being an all-or-none phenomenon. So, when this action potential arrives at the terminal button, the synaptic vesicles release their neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft, which is a space that separates two neurons. The neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptors of the dendrites of the adjacent neurons, and the process repeats itself in the new neuron and this means that cellular communication between neurons has been achieved. It is pretty clear that chemistry has a huge role to play in cell communication and therefore, habit formation, because it is all a result of the difference in charges and attractions across cell membranes.

So that’s how messages are transmitted from neurons and how brain cells communicate. When they communicate frequently, the connection between them strengthens and the messages get transmitted faster as they travel the same pathway over and over again until these behaviors become automatic and at this point, the prefrontal cortex isn’t even being engaged any longer. The capacity of our basal ganglia enables us to perform complex behaviors without even being mentally aware of them.

Initially when you adopt a new behavior, you engage your prefrontal cortex because you aren’t accustomed to the action yet; you need to think about each action in the routine. When something becomes a habit, you no longer think about each individual action since they are controlled by other parts of the brain like the DSL in the striatum as mentioned before which are involved with habitual and automatic behaviors. The striatum is known to release chemicals in the form of neurotransmitters that inhibit the complex thinking part of the brain. Neurons in the brain fire and give chemical rewards and once a habit and reward are tied together in the brain, reward neurons start firing before the behavior is done which results in craving.

Segment 3: Personal Connections

I am a very easily distracted individual and habits such as fingernail biting/picking, or nose picking, or any other so-called “gross” habit is a huge distraction for me but it doesn’t seem to be for most others. My brother has been a fingernail biter/picker his whole life and no matter how much I berate him or tell him to stop, he doesn’t. I never truly understood how people developed such habits but I still found it interesting how such individuals don’t even realize that they do it. Other members of my family and many individuals I know seem to have such habits and I just found it disgusting and annoying and so part of the reason why I picked this topic is to better understand such habits so I myself can just be better educated on the topic since it really isn’t their fault. It’s similar to why millions of people wake up and automatically turn to their smartphones or why 70% of all Americans wake up and go brush their teeth automatically. It’s all due to complex neural patterns in our brains and it can be frustrating because you may not know why you feel inclined to check your phone whenever you see a notification apparent, but it’s the genius of neuromarketing at play here. I have always been curious about the inner workings of our brain as well as it’s impact on cognition and overall function. I actually plan on studying neuroscience and neurology in the future because it is just something that I have an interest in for one, and because several close members of my family have neurological disorders and as a result, they also experienced mental health issues later in life due to having trouble coping with such conditions. Since I find the development of bad habits intriguing and since I already had an interest in neuroscience and mental health, I thought that it would be a pretty cool idea to connect the two by discussing the neuroscience of bad habits which includes topics from chemistry.

So, what is the importance of this topic? First of all, every person in the world has habits that control their lives, from our daily routine to the rate of our success. It’s pretty scary how much of our lives are controlled by habits, from waking up to looking at our phones, to then brushing our teeth and taking a shower, to having a cup of coffee, to chewing on the tip of your pen while thinking through a problem, to maybe shopping later in the day, and on and on. Your entire routine is controlled by habits, actions that are done automatically without you really having to think about them which enables your brain to

Chemistry ConnectionsEpisode #15  

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, our names are Beth Hooks and Emilie Sawicki and we are your hosts for episode #15 called the Chemistry of Happiness Today we will be discussing serotonin and its effects on the brain. 

Segment 1: Introduction to Serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter found in the blood, the gastrointestinal tract, and the central nervous system. It acts as a neurotransmitter (substance that nerves use to send messages to one another) and a vasoconstrictor (causes blood vessels to narrow). It helps with stabilizing mood, regulating bowel movements, and allowing blood to clot. 

A lack of serotonin in the brain is thought to have influence on mental illnesses including depression, bi-polar disorder, and anxiety. Because it helps balance mood, it is sometimes called the “Happy Chemical”.

Neurotransmitters transmit messages between neurons. Neurons are responsible for receiving sensory input from external sources, sending motor commands to our muscles, and for relaying the electrical signals. The interactions between these neurons and chemicals control many bodily functions, including emotional responses.

Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind Serotonin

Serotonin is a molecule that is made up of covalent bonds that connect carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. The molecule has 26 sigma bonds and 4 pi bonds. Double bonds represent 1 sigma and 1 pi bond. Single bonds represent 1 sigma bond. 

Serotonin is also a very polar molecule, and has the ability to form hydrogen bonds between serotonin molecules because of the very polar hydroxyl(OH) groups. Hydrogen bonds occur when a hydrogen atom that is covalently bonded to an oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine atom is attracted to a very polar oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine atom on a separate molecule. Due to these strong attractions, serotonin has some interesting properties. It has a melting point of 167.5 degrees Celsius, which, compared to water molecules melting at 0 degrees Celsius, is reasonably high. It has a higher boiling point too, at 416 degrees Celsius. This means that at room temperature, it is solid.  

When the covalent bonds are broken down, a byproduct is created. When doctors try to measure serotonin levels, they actually measure the amount of the byproduct created when the molecule is broken down. By using the ideas of stoichiometry, if there are more reactants, in this case serotonin, there will have to be more products, in this case the byproduct of serotonin. So, when someone has abnormally low serotonin levels, it is because they have less measurable byproducts. This is commonly linked to mental illnesses such as depression. Tryptophan is used in the production of serotonin, so not having enough of it will result in decreased levels of serotonin.

In the treatment of depression, bi-polar, and anxiety, it is common for patients to use synthetic serotonin. The blood-brain barrier is unable to be crossed by serotonin directly, so the reactants needed to produce it are often used instead in the form of dietary supplements. Synthetic products of serotonin are used to indirectly affect serotonin levels in the brain.

 The production of this is similar to how our bodies get serotonin because serotonin is made from the essential amino acid Tryptophan, which our bodies can not produce. In order to make this, the use of enzymes are required which act as catalysts. Tryptophan 5-hydroxylase, an enzyme, is the catalyst for the rate-determining step. Catalysts increase the rate of reaction by providing a different pathway and lowering the activation energy of the reaction. In the biosynthesis of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), energy is required to break apart the covalent bonds within the tryptophan reactant.

 Since covalent bonds are very strong and difficult to break, a large amount of energy is required for the reaction, so fewer particles have enough energy to proceed through the reaction. Given this, the catalyst tryptophan hydroxylase is used to lower the activation energy. By lowering the energy needed for the reaction to take place, more particles have the required energy to proceed through the reaction, so the reaction occurs faster. This allows for the production of more serotonin. 

If the enzymes needed for catalysis are missing, less serotonin will be produced, so the introduction of these enzymes into the gut is needed to maintain a healthy balance of serotonin. This catalyst is introduced into the body by ingesting food. Certain foods have more tryptophan, which is the reactant needed in the synthesis of serotonin. By ingesting more foods that include this molecule, including but not limited to salmon, eggs, spinach, and milk, serotonin levels can increase. In a sense, this just means that eating certain foods will make you happier. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, so it can only be introduced into the body by food. This is one reason that people with eating disorders have a higher probability of developing mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety. 

Segment 3: Personal Connections

Just like most people (I would assume), we want to be happy. Picking a topic surrounding the idea of happiness seemed interesting. However, most of our research ended up leaning in the opposite direction, towards mental health disorders and the lack of serotonin often associated with these conditions. While this isn’t as uplifting of a topic, it is definitely still very important. For example, one of the most common conditions associated with lower serotonin levels, depression, is diagnosed in 17.3 million American adults. This is only the number of people with a formal diagnosis, so the expected value is likely much higher.

 With so many people struggling, learning about just one possible cause is important for gaining an understanding of mental health in general. We have struggled with mental health issues for over a decade, so we found this very interesting.  It may not have been the happy, cheerful route that we originally had planned, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. And the Google searches of two juniors aren't exactly going to make any breakthroughs on research of mental health, but the more that topics like this are studied, the closer we will get to finding a true cure for these awful conditions. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources:

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/serotonin

https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_08/d_08_m/d_08_m_dep/d_08_m_dep.html#:~:text=Serotonin%20is%20a%20molecule%20composed,of%20depressed%20people%20only%20indirectly. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/tryptophan-hydroxylase#:~:text=Life%20Without%20Brain%20Serotonin&text=TPH1%20is%20mainly%20synthesized%20by,enteric%20neurons%20in%20the%20gut. 

http://chemistry-reference.com/q_compounds.asp?CAS=50-67-9

https://www.softschools.com/formulas/chemistry/serotonin_formula/488/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325323/  

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322416#serotonin-vs-tryptophan 

https://www.worldofmolecules.com/emotions/serotonin.htm 

https://www.dbsalliance.org/education/depression/statistics/ 

Music Credits

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired