Thursday, September 10, 2009

Scared....muscleless?

And now back, after a brief encounter with what was hopefully H1N1 (so I don't have to deal with it later) and the subsequent biochem quiz!

I present to you this fantastically funny video (don't worry, the goats aren't hurting):


Myotonia is a disease that is thought to be caused by a defective ion channel in muscle. The chloride channel is responsible for allowing muscles to relax after they have been stimulated to contract. In people and animals, a defective chloride channel in skeletal muscles leads to a short delay (about 5-7 seconds, if you watch the video carefully) before the muscles can relax. This is normally only triggered when there is extreme muscle stimulation, so people learn to cope with this disease by moving slowly. Fortunately for our amusement, goats have not figured out this little trick.

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