My Beef with Gluconeogenesis

[hilmyth]

For those who are unaware gluconeogenisis occurs when your body doesn’t have enough glucose like when you are trapped on a deserted island and can’t find any sources of carbohydrates or sugars to break it down into glucose. So your body goes to your muscle and takes some of its protein and converts it into glucose so the body can use it for fuel.

This is a very oversimplified explanation, there is a lot more to it than just this.

[suzannenapier]

All I know is that a doctor just advised me to eat a donut, so I'm off to the bakery.

[claeab]

As someone who didn't understand a word you just said, I like your funny words, magic man

[jakinbakin]

I have no idea what any of this means but this is exactly what I needed to hear today. Screw Gluconeongenesis.

[Pmimbre]

Thanks, as a retired biochemist, I had to chuckle. The look on your face when you figured it out was reminiscent of my students when the light bulb finally went on.

[xoda-lv]

You know, we were all thinking it but only he had the courage to say it.

[logan]

Really letting glucose-6-phosphatase off the hook 😤

[deemandude]

Gluconeogenesis, the backup fuel tank for emergencies

[shay]

Finally someone standing up to the bureaucracy of biochemical pathways (or at least trying)

[jayabee]

You sneaky taught us something as you do.

[SanguineBanker]

This might be one of my favorite ones yet. The lightbulb moment unfolds beautifully.

[Phroggster]

As a type one diabetic, making more glucose is the least of my concerns if I'm trapped on a deserted island without a pharmacy and a refrigerator handy, but I love the cycle humor.

[lennierofthethirdfaneofchu]

The thing I enjoyed most about AP Biology was the section on metabolic pathways. I’m a physicist now, not a physician.

[mahmoudhossam]

I love that.
You can see the cogwheels turning in his brain in real-time 😅
If anyone is wondering what he's saying basically (and I'll do my best, I'm still a student), glucose is turned by multiple processes into pyruvate. After that, pyruvate enters the Krebs cycle to turn into energy, especially in the fed state. However, what do you do if you're starving? Simply put, something like RBCs and the brain can only use raw glucose, so glucose is essential. In starvation, we use fat for energy, and other metabolites like pyruvate, which we have in some form of stock, will turn into precious glucose via gluconeogenesis 😊 Your body wants to be economical, so it directs the essential resources in different ways depending on the situation, so you can stay alive and healthy for the longest time possible. It's fascinating. PS: (Please correct me nicely if I said anything wrong).

[dakotah.gumm.author]

I don't know what any of this means, but I'm here for the energy

[julienallen]

As a premed student in Biochem studying for the MCAT, this expresses my feelings quite closely

[TheMjausing]

I had a big poster on the bathroom door so I would revise the gluconeogenesis, citric acid cycle, and the rest while brushing my teeth. The worst was not the names, but the chemical structures of each and every molecule. Never used this knowledge after the exam.

[saarkoene]

Im a biochemist and I was about to comment that we NEED A BACKUP!! But then you realised it and it made me happy!
Also, we have such complicated mechnisms to compensate failure during disease. Do you really think we need so many heat shock proteins? No! But it sure is great they can cover each other's asses when needed!

[MoeRease]

Waiting for you to introduce the endocrinologist!
Those thyroid eye disease and diabetic retinopathy referrals come from somewhere

[meyerbra]

You are just the best. Can't wait to see you in Fargo next week!