Kanye West Is Teaching a Class

...at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Kanye is teaching fashion design as a part of his 250-hour community service requirement after a confrontation with paparazzi. Students at LA Trade Technical College should consider themselves lucky: we can only imagine how much better LS1a would be if Kanye taught it...

Life Sciences 1a                                                                Lecture 5 Notes—Proteins

Welcome to Lecture 5 of Kanye West’s LS1a. I’mma let you finish posting to Twitter and group texting your friends in a minute (an hour and a half to be exact), but I just want to say that proteins are the best macromolecules.

What are proteins? They are the Steve Jobs—they are the Michelangelo—they are the Michael Jordan of macromolecules. They ball so hard other macromolecules wanna fine them, but first you’ve got to find them (in the cell). What’s fifty polypeptide chains to a molecule like this, can you please remind me?

What are proteins made of? Na-na-na that that aren’t amino acids, can’t make the protein stronger. The future proteins needs the amino acid sequencing to hurry up now, ‘cause it can’t wait much longer.

What functions can proteins have? Not one function can have all the power—the cell and body use proteins in many ways!

N.B.: Christian Anfinsen predicted that the overall 3-dimensional shape of a protein relies on the primary sequence of amino acids. Just like how Kim relies on me for fashion advice.

So far we’ve seen that amino acids are living the good life on their own. But they’ve got to shine, and will be even better when linked together.

How are amino acids linked together? In the water I saw it form, the coolest story ever told, somewhere far along the road two amino acids lost a water molecule, to a peptide bond so heartless. How could it be so heartless, stealing a water molecule away from them? But we already know how this thing goes: the carboxylic end of an amino acid says it’s breaking free, saying it wants to link up with the cute amine group of the nearest amino acid that it can see, it takes a couple moments and then you will see, a small water molecule emerges free.

Looking ahead: Tomorrow, Jay-Z and Drake will be collaborating on a guest lecture on amino acids. I will be in Paris (I know that’s cray), so I will finish this lecture next week. Don't forget your TFs Khloé and Kourtney will be holding office hours tonight in Annenberg from 7:30 p.m to 9:30 p.m.