It is no secret that I have a professional interest (they make me do it, I try not to) in zinc fingers. So when I was tidying up the Pawns’ breakfast mess last week I was intrigued by the box of Froot Loops (the breakfast cereal that is so sweet it gives me palpitations just smelling it):
Let’s take a closer look, just below the teeth:
Isn’t that just fantastic? It’s so good, I thought, that I searched the PDB and found exactly what I was looking for:
And it’s there on a box of breakfast cereal, ‘supporting healthy growth’. Which is doubly fantastic because that DNA sequence is a…
promoter. Yeah!
Um. That doesn’t quite work. Never mind.
You need this.
The marketing makes me cringe – but you can give them points for representing that you need trace zinc in the diet to get some transcription factors to work well.
I love the implication that Froot Loops are in any way good for teeth.
What are you doing buying that stuff for your kids? If it’s not in the house, they won’t eat it. A “good” source of anything except sucrose indeed. Good relative to spring water, perhaps.
GEEK. I’m amazed you didn’t say “don’t get your zinc fingers stuck in your leucine zipper”.
HA! And he’s the geek? Close race, from where I sit 🙂
It is interesting that they would choose such a specific/specialist diagram to demonstrate why zinc is important. It’s a little impenetrable and vague, really – doesn’t teach the kids why they should eat zinc. “Support growth”? Doesn’t all food do that? Is there a more approachable way of stating why Zn is important?
LOL! It’s not my joke though, it was very popular amongst (almost all of) the professors in my undergrad department.
And did you then use the cereal box to explain Zinc fingers to your kids?
Or do they already know all about them.
Froot fingers and zinc loops?
you get interested/annoyed with the zinc and “supporting growth” but not a word about “helps realise energy from food for active kids”…
or, as previously said “good for your teeth” after you brush the sugarsugarsugar away
and really, no artificial flavouing in frooty loopies…?? I really thought that.
Is there a more approachable way of stating why Zn is important?
I very much doubt it. I am actually mildly impressed they went to the effort of pitching any science towards kids (and/or their parents) and think the graphics are sort of neat.
Having sugar on something doesn’t negate the benefits of the nutrients underneath — this is a separate issue in my view.
I was rather struck by the little helix and the Zn near it, such a lovely way of displaying (one of the reasons) why zinc is important. The helix is such a recognizable scientific icon. I was too tired last night to write more about it, but I might riff of it later (if no one else nicks it!).
To quote a famous scientist:
“If you’re bored, I can find you something to do”.