Prions and poems

Prions at night

 

One night a protein did something unplanned,

Up in the brainstem, had a great one-night stand,

With a prion of a seemingly plain disposition,

But he didn’t know this was a prion with a mission.

This infectious agent of PrP^sc

Brought a vintage bottle of the finest Chablis,

Up to the temporary home of his new protein lover

Who were to suffer from a disease from which he would never recover.

The two paramours sat down on the couch,

And soon started to do some things rather louche.

The next day the protein, felt rather unwell

After waking up to the prion having left the motel.

As the days passed, the protein kept getting sick,

And decided to visit his doctor quite quick.

Off to the doctor he went and he asked;

“Excuse me, I seem to have gotten sick rather fast”

The doctor took one look at the protein and said

With a voice that was clearly tainted with dread:

“ I’m sorry to tell you, but its seems that you might,

have been transformed into PrP^sc by some slight.

Have you perhaps done something at night,

With someone who wasn’t aware of this plight?”

The protein – or rather prion – was struck,

By great terror at his atrocious bad luck.

“Please, Doctor, is there any way I can change?”,

He said, feeling fear at this rather depressing exchange.

“I’m sorry to say, and I’ll try to be merciful,

but your new identity is simply irreversible!”

At this the new prion got a far off look on his face,

And started to wonder which proteins that he could deface.

 

Because what our friend the protein had not been aware,

Was that all prions desire to cause much despair,

To infect all normal PrP^c with awful misfolds,

And give them an infectious agent that takes hold,

Of all that is healthy and good, strong and free

And forever turn them into PrP^sc.

I wanted to write a poem reflecting the severity of prion misfolding, and how the transformation of prions is irreversible.  I thought It would be amusing to write it as the rather human and embarrassing encounter of getting an STI after a one night stand. Unfortunately for the protein in this tale, he will never be able to recover from his encounter with the prion. In this I wanted to reflect the severity of the transformation of proteins into prions, by relating it to human experience of a traumatic event. While it may not be very scientifically accurate, I feel like it portrays the transformation somewhat amusingly.

 

Here is my class poem about oil and water as well:

The case of water and oil

 

In this case polarity

Causes a rarity,

As a tale of friendship unfolds

H2O refuses to remold

 

As H and O of each other are fond

A strong hydrogen bond

Has been formed.

 

Rather abrupt,

The oil interrupts,

With a desire to acquire

A new place to retire

 

Unfortunately,

The oil is hydrophobic

And does not admire

Hydrogen’s love for all things aerobic.