BCP 102 First Timers: Bones 3 (I-L)

Shark cartilage has more stronger-than-steel collagen molecules than our ear cartilage does.

This picture below shows that shark vertebrae have very tall spinous processes (Refer back to Bones DD-2 if you forgot what they are).

In the picture above, the dorsal fin is on the top of the shark and the pectoral fins are on the bottom, off to each side near the front.

The hydroxyapatite crystal in bone is very, very small. (3 nm)

To keep the bone hydroxyapatite crystals from growing larger, a chemical (citrate) covers five-sixths of each crystal’s surface and stops the crystal from growing bigger.

Collagen fibrils have a gap between collagen molecules. (40 nm)

Jello is often made from collagen from the skin, tendons and cartilage of animals. Ugh.

Hydrolyzed collagen is collagen that has been broken apart. This is what makes up spaghetti.

The “bone castle” that the picture below represents is subject to enormous pressures in the body of an Olympian.

A collagen-protein molecule is 1.5 nm wide–about the same width as a glucose molecule.

Your stomach HCl and your Pancreatic enzymes leave collagen that we eat undigested.