That footnote on Western blot reminds me of some of my favorite 'inside jokes' in naming of things in biology. My 2 favorites might be in developmental genes.
A segmental polarity gene was discovered in Drosophila and was named 'hedgehog' because when its knocked out the developing organism looks like it has quills of a hedgehog. So when the corresponding gene was found in other animals, it was named 'Sonic' (the video game was still new in popularity at the time).
Also in drosophila (the story of why we know so much about this organism's genetics is to me a great story in how science collaborations should work), the homobox which controls formation of cardiac progenitor cells is called 'tinman' :)
There was once a lot of debate over whether naming of the SHH gene was appropriate, because defects in the gene can lead to a childhood disorder and healthcare practitioners felt it could be seen as insulting to tell parents their child has a "sonic hedgehog" defect. These days this issue is not as big a deal anymore because most HCPs just say "SHH" instead of the full gene name.
At one point a small-molecule inhibitor of sonic hedgehog was being investigated and was named "robotnikinin" after Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic games. I imagine that if it had become a drug used in humans for any particular reason, it would have led to a fascinating intellectual property situation.
Yes, you want to use a paper towel to wipe the skin after about 30 minutes of salt treatment. By then most of the salt will have dissolved and it'll have drawn water out of the skin, though. The main point is to dehydrate the skin as much as possible.
The step isn't *entirely* necessary if you're using never-frozen fish, but it helps guarantee consistency in getting a crispy skin.
That footnote on Western blot reminds me of some of my favorite 'inside jokes' in naming of things in biology. My 2 favorites might be in developmental genes.
A segmental polarity gene was discovered in Drosophila and was named 'hedgehog' because when its knocked out the developing organism looks like it has quills of a hedgehog. So when the corresponding gene was found in other animals, it was named 'Sonic' (the video game was still new in popularity at the time).
Also in drosophila (the story of why we know so much about this organism's genetics is to me a great story in how science collaborations should work), the homobox which controls formation of cardiac progenitor cells is called 'tinman' :)
As it turns out, Sonic Hedgehog was named based on a comic book about the character rather than the video game--that hadn't been released in the US yet when the gene got its name. More here: https://gizmodo.com/the-strange-history-of-how-a-gene-was-named-sonic-hedg-1691732678
There was once a lot of debate over whether naming of the SHH gene was appropriate, because defects in the gene can lead to a childhood disorder and healthcare practitioners felt it could be seen as insulting to tell parents their child has a "sonic hedgehog" defect. These days this issue is not as big a deal anymore because most HCPs just say "SHH" instead of the full gene name.
At one point a small-molecule inhibitor of sonic hedgehog was being investigated and was named "robotnikinin" after Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic games. I imagine that if it had become a drug used in humans for any particular reason, it would have led to a fascinating intellectual property situation.
So do you brush off the salt at some point?
Yes, you want to use a paper towel to wipe the skin after about 30 minutes of salt treatment. By then most of the salt will have dissolved and it'll have drawn water out of the skin, though. The main point is to dehydrate the skin as much as possible.
The step isn't *entirely* necessary if you're using never-frozen fish, but it helps guarantee consistency in getting a crispy skin.