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CARLA THE CARBON ATOM

Carla the Carbon atom has an independent nature. She likes to roam and get into all sorts of adventures and misadventures. She has been known to hang out in poolrooms with nitrogen and oxygen and even sulfur when the mood strikes. She shoots a devastating massé shot, but of course she has had a long time to practice since she was created in a nuclear fusion reaction billions of years ago.

One day Carla was drifting along in the air, joined to two oxygen buddies. They were lulled by the warmth and blue sky and, not paying attention, they passed through a stoma of a leaf. Before they could scramble out , an obnoxious Rubisco protein nabbed them , and Carla found herself part of a 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA) molecule. The indignity! (Compounds composed of nothing but carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are considered low and unsophisticated in the organic world.)

On the bright side, Carla had been through this before and she knew that eventually she would find herself free in the atmosphere. “Eventually” could mean minutes or millennia, but what’s  time to a carbon atom?

Assignment. Compose a creative and biologically informed essay of at least 1,000 words that traces Carla’s adventures as she makes her way back to the atmosphere as part of a CO2 molecule. She can spend any amount of time in any form, in any age. (Does she become part of Cleopatra?) At a minimum she will be transported to a specific plant part, be eaten by an animal, be transported to a specific animal organ, and be released again to the atmosphere. Include the various biochemical pathways she flows through. You do not need to list all the enzymatic steps, just summarize. Your essay will be judged on creativity (20%), writing skill (spelling, grammar and usage – 10%), and on the fullness and correctness of the biological explanations (70%). Type your essay.

Essays due at your regular Discussion session the week of Oct 22 .