Proteins and prototypes

Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more!

Macbeth does murder sleep”.

Act II: Scene 2

Day three of operation habituation and we saw a beaver mud the dam and swim into his same ‘chewing thoughtfully’ spot for a munch – this time facing us. I have realized something important though. After careful analysis it is clear that the beavers aren’t habituating to ‘us’ so much as we are habituating to the fact that these are different beavers that play by different rules. Cautious and wary in every way, which I think is good for them. They require protection, and quiet – trains not withstanding.

I take comfort from the fact that we are still “In Beaver World” as Enos Mills would say – just a dam different beaver world!

Good news yesterday as we learned that the Alhambra Valley Band will still be playing the opening for the festival, and our grant was recommended by the city manger to receive 1000 dollars towards the mural. The council voted last night and I’m going to assume we’re good to go. (I had asked for two thousand but, hey I’m pretty happy to think that the city of Martinez will be paying for Mario Alfaro to paint beavers after forcing him to paint over them before.)

A final bit of beaver news this morning involves the successful protein analysis of the oldest giant beaver skull on record. Apparently this beaver ate his wheaties.

Fossils of Extinct Giant Beaver Open New Doors in the Study of Ancient Proteins

Previously, researchers studying ancient proteins rely on fossils that were dug up for that purpose. However, the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, used a giant beaver skull that was collected in 1845 and has been housed at the New York State Museum.

For the study, researchers extracted proteins from the skull of the giant beaver belonging to the species Castoroides ohioensis. Using mass spectrometry analysis, the researchers search for proteins, chains of amino acids assembled from instructions encoded in DNA that perform a wide variety of functions in living organisms.

For the study, researchers extracted proteins from the skull of the giant beaver belonging to the species Castoroides ohioensis. Using mass spectrometry analysis, the researchers search for proteins, chains of amino acids assembled from instructions encoded in DNA that perform a wide variety of functions in living organisms.

The researchers then detected many samples of collagen 1 in the protein they extracted. Collagen 1 is the most common protein in bone. The researchers also found post-translational modifications, chemical changes on the surface of the protein that are not defined by DNA.

I think one of the reasons this study is making a splash is that it bolsters the arguments about why we need carefully maintain specimens. As science pushes forward. we are finding that old bones release new secrets and we need to be ready. I’m not really sure why collagen 1 was present in the beaver skulls, but it is the most common protein in the human body an if you want to read up on this you can go here and explain folding and secretion to me.

Not being an expert on the subject, I was mostly interested that the original skull had been ‘shellacked’ for preservation, and since the shellac contains proteins too, they did a sample from inside the nasal cavity of that skull where nothing was painted.

Silly specimen keepers! If they had ever watched the ‘antique road show’ they would have know that the original finish is always more valuable!