Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).
That was then, and this is now. When the term chaperone was adopted for cell biology, presumably most people understood that the word represented a supervisory entity. The biological term applies to tiny protein structures in a living cell which supervise/encourage the appropriate folding of each new protein as it is manufactured in the cell. Just as there was no socializing allowed in English polite society without chaperones, so no new synthesized proteins can fold into their precise functional form without the presence of a suitable chaperone. The cell is a crowded place. The newly forming protein is a straight string that has to fold into a fancy three-dimensional shape if it is going to function in the cell. This is obviously hard to achieve, without help, in a crowded situation.
The interesting chicken and egg situation here is that no protein successfully folds without chaperones. But chaperones themselves are proteins folded in precise fashion. How did they achieve their functional form without the presence of chaperones already on scene? It takes a chaperone to fold a chaperone. The whole cell was irreducibly complex from the start. No chaperones, no cell! God created everything with precision and finesse right from the start.
Moxie
July 2025
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Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).
That was then, and this is now. When the term chaperone was adopted for cell biology, presumably most people understood that the word represented a supervisory entity. The biological term applies to tiny protein structures in a living cell which supervise/encourage the appropriate folding of each new protein as it is manufactured in the cell. Just as there was no socializing allowed in English polite society without chaperones, so no new synthesized proteins can fold into their precise functional form without the presence of a suitable chaperone. The cell is a crowded place. The newly forming protein is a straight string that has to fold into a fancy three-dimensional shape if it is going to function in the cell. This is obviously hard to achieve, without help, in a crowded situation.
The interesting chicken and egg situation here is that no protein successfully folds without chaperones. But chaperones themselves are proteins folded in precise fashion. How did they achieve their functional form without the presence of chaperones already on scene? It takes a chaperone to fold a chaperone. The whole cell was irreducibly complex from the start. No chaperones, no cell! God created everything with precision and finesse right from the start.
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Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).
That was then, and this is now. When the term chaperone was adopted for cell biology, presumably most people understood that the word represented a supervisory entity. The biological term applies to tiny protein structures in a living cell which supervise/encourage the appropriate folding of each new protein as it is manufactured in the cell. Just as there was no socializing allowed in English polite society without chaperones, so no new synthesized proteins can fold into their precise functional form without the presence of a suitable chaperone. The cell is a crowded place. The newly forming protein is a straight string that has to fold into a fancy three-dimensional shape if it is going to function in the cell. This is obviously hard to achieve, without help, in a crowded situation.
The interesting chicken and egg situation here is that no protein successfully folds without chaperones. But chaperones themselves are proteins folded in precise fashion. How did they achieve their functional form without the presence of chaperones already on scene? It takes a chaperone to fold a chaperone. The whole cell was irreducibly complex from the start. No chaperones, no cell! God created everything with precision and finesse right from the start.
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Paperback / $6.00 / 62 Pages / full colour
Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).
That was then, and this is now. When the term chaperone was adopted for cell biology, presumably most people understood that the word represented a supervisory entity. The biological term applies to tiny protein structures in a living cell which supervise/encourage the appropriate folding of each new protein as it is manufactured in the cell. Just as there was no socializing allowed in English polite society without chaperones, so no new synthesized proteins can fold into their precise functional form without the presence of a suitable chaperone. The cell is a crowded place. The newly forming protein is a straight string that has to fold into a fancy three-dimensional shape if it is going to function in the cell. This is obviously hard to achieve, without help, in a crowded situation.
The interesting chicken and egg situation here is that no protein successfully folds without chaperones. But chaperones themselves are proteins folded in precise fashion. How did they achieve their functional form without the presence of chaperones already on scene? It takes a chaperone to fold a chaperone. The whole cell was irreducibly complex from the start. No chaperones, no cell! God created everything with precision and finesse right from the start.
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Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).
That was then, and this is now. When the term chaperone was adopted for cell biology, presumably most people understood that the word represented a supervisory entity. The biological term applies to tiny protein structures in a living cell which supervise/encourage the appropriate folding of each new protein as it is manufactured in the cell. Just as there was no socializing allowed in English polite society without chaperones, so no new synthesized proteins can fold into their precise functional form without the presence of a suitable chaperone. The cell is a crowded place. The newly forming protein is a straight string that has to fold into a fancy three-dimensional shape if it is going to function in the cell. This is obviously hard to achieve, without help, in a crowded situation.
The interesting chicken and egg situation here is that no protein successfully folds without chaperones. But chaperones themselves are proteins folded in precise fashion. How did they achieve their functional form without the presence of chaperones already on scene? It takes a chaperone to fold a chaperone. The whole cell was irreducibly complex from the start. No chaperones, no cell! God created everything with precision and finesse right from the start.
Order Online