Nature's Incredible ROTATING MOTOR (It’s Electric!) - Smarter Every Day 300

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Behind the Scenes Second Channel Video

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1. Here's a link to the Team's Paper:

2. The Iverson Lab at Vanderbilt University:

3. Prash's personal page (you can download a 3D print file etc here)

4. I thought this particular paper was very interesting
"Stepwise formation of the bacterial flagellar system"

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Ambiance, audio and musicy things by: Gordon McGladdery

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Warm Regards,

Destin

[besmart]

As a molecular biologist, I think Destin did a great job of explaining how the expression, imaging, chemotaxis, and the rest works. I hope this video makes people think deeply and ask important questions. And if this comment gets enough upvotes I’ll do a video about ATP synthase 😂

[Nighthawkinlight]

The thing that's been blowing my mind the last year or so is nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen is an essential ingredient for life but the majority of it is bound up in an inaccessible state of triple bonded N2. To split that bond in a laboratory you need something like 500°C temperatures at 200+ atmospheres of pressure. It takes a tremendous amount of energy. And yet, there are bacteria with these enormously complex enzymes called nitrogenases that can take triple bonded atmospheric nitrogen and in a move just short of magic (I'm being facetious) break it apart at or below room temp. Without nitrogenase life on earth would have all died off long ago as earth's supply of free nitrogen was consumed, but these bacteria saved us all. More than that, nitrogenase itself requires elements like molybdenum which are also biologically inaccessible - except for other very particular bacteria that have the ability to collect it and make it accessible to the ones that use it for nitrogen fixation. All over the place there are biological process that seem to intuit the needs of others, and not always with an apparent benifit to the giver. If I weren't alive I'd find life unbelievable.

[TheBioCosmos]

Biologist here, this is the part where I see many people make the wrong assumption. The flagella in a sperm is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the rotating flagella in a bacterium. The name is the same, I know, but they operate completely differently. The sperm flagella does not rotate at all, It's actually a sliding mechanism inside that creates a swaying motion. The flagella in bacteria are the rotating ones! ATP Synthase, though, is also another rotating molecular machines that exist in both bacteria and mammalian cells.

[sorsdeus]

My wife is a Biology PhD (I am an engineer)... I am as surprised as you are with all this information... and she is like... yes we have known many of those things for a long time. This is great cross-scientific work and super important to have cross-pollination among different scientific disciplines.

[DanyAshby]

Finally, an explanation for how Tails' helicopter butt works in Sonic the Hedgehog

[octavianova]

"I'm getting emotional now, cuz there's a missile that I've worked on in the past"
-literally the most American sentence I have ever heard in my life 😅😅

[nickfotopoulos]

I love how when Prash talks about the clockwise and counter-clockwise motion he moves the motor in the appropriate direction for the viewer and not himself. It demonstrates his natural ability to get outside of his own head and perspective effortlessly.

[Jeremy_Fielding]

This "motor" really is fascinatingly complex. I also find it marvelous that a tiny factory can crank out thousands of these motors like an assembly line. As long as it has instructions! LOL Freaking amazing the engineering that is happening at the microscopic level. A machine that can create machines... I would love to tour that factory 😁

[goffperu]

The coolest thing about being an 11M sub YouTuber is that you can read about a cool thing, and then just go talk to the scientist that discovered it.

[DocJaco]

Biologist here, just wanted to point out to other viewers that the flagella in eukaryotic cells (like sperm) are totally different from those found in bacteria and archaea. While bacteria and archaea rotate, eukayote flagella bend and whip.

[mschever]

As a software and civil engineer, I have to say my mind is blown. Mechanical engineering and microbiology seem so different, but they're actually incredibly interconnected and share many similarities. It's fascinating how people in these fields can communicate so effectively. I never regret supporting you on Patreon; it's been incredibly interesting and rewarding. Thank you so much!

[gcorriveau]

As an airline pilot, I had a guest in the flight deck one day (back when we could do that) who was a molecular biologist researcher at a local university. He expressed wonder at the complexities of our flight deck and aircraft. I remarked that what he worked on every day must be a thousand times more complex! We were both in wonder and awe of these things that we humans (in the case of an aircraft) and ??? (you fill in the blank) have made in the cellular structures!! I love your encouragement here to "Not defend a flag, " but just look and ponder!... Thanks for all this - it is so absolutely amazing!

[handkeez]

"Even when we're driving here, we're so excited like, what will I find today?"

That's how you know someone really enjoys their work.

[cucciolino]

"Wow! a molecular motor"
ATP Synthase: "👁👄👁"

[BenTajer]

Small correction, you suggest the flagellar motor is integral to the creation of human life, but the flagella on human sperm is a eukaryotic flagella (technically a long cillia) and works through a completely different mechanism with a bunch of microtubules that slide past eachother causing it to spring and whip around. It's a very different mechanism.

[aaronlaws]

0:53 "flagellum on the back of sperm". Sperm have a celium, not a flagellum. Eukariotic propulsion is very different than prokaryotic propulsion. The magnitude of complexity, efficacy, mode of operation, and fuel sources are not even similar.

[ilVice]

As a former computational biologist, I worked a lot with 3D structures and the dynamics of bacterial flagellar filaments. The first thing that blew my mind was the sheer complexity and geometrical symmetry of these structures. No matter how you represent it, wireframe, balls-and-sticks, atom radii, they are beautiful. A masterpiece of mechanical perfection.

By the way: at some point, you suggest a strategy to disable the flagellar motor, right? Unfortunately, the human immune system is already pretty good at recognizing and attacking flagellar structures. That's why in the acute phase of the infection, many bacteria have learned to lose their flagella, bundle together in biofilms like in a fortress, and start releasing mucus and other nasty molecules to keep our defenses away. Usually, when bacteria are roaming around is not when people feel sick. Biology is complicated, it's a continuous arms race.

[hypedupdemon]

The dithering sound effect was spot on 😂

[aslightbreeze]

LOL - "chemotaxis is so cool, reminds me of missiles I've designed"

[dunkinvideos]

Imagine being able to integrate ML/AI tech to run 24/7 on samples to take 2D pictures and build (through composition/inference of known protein shapes) 3D models 😍