Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium

That About Covers It

MLR writes: "The Tree of Life--carbon, glucose, light, DNA, and the golden rectangle.  A tattoo by Kevin Riley. On the chest of a PhD student in molecular biology."

A Cell Biology Lesson Under the Needle

Troy writes that he got his tattoo "as a post-doctoral fellow studying protein folding. The tattoo is sort of a telescoping view of the contents in a cell (many contents omitted, obviously). This came about from a very vague idea of something I wanted, and the artist (Chris Adamek, Immortal Ink, Clinton, NJ) really ran with it. He has no scientific training but came up with some really amazing artwork. He was so enthusiastic and wanted to know all about what it all meant and how it works. I enjoyed the experience of sitting with him for three days as much as I enjoy the result. The DNA doesn't code for anything (at least not intentionally)."

Two Become One (Becoming Two)

Ashton writes, "My boyfriend and I wanted tattoos that looked good on their own but had significance when they were joined. It took a long time to find the right design; my doodles went nowhere. Then, in the course of research for the American Museum of Natural History where I'm a staff writer, I saw a picture of a cell during meiosis, and bingo! (visualize a membrane surrounding both sets of chromosomes on our forearms.) We love the way it looks, as well as the way it symbolizes both pulling apart and coming together. And it ended up being the catalyst for a book project about tattoos with a shared meaning ( http://www.tattoosfortwo.com/)."

Carl: If you forgot your high school biology, here's an elegant little refresher on meiosis.

One Way to Remember Your Discovery

A biochemist writes, "Here is a picture of my science tattoo, which is a stylized structure of glycolipid A, the preformed glycolipid membrane anchor precursor I discovered as a graduate student some 20 years ago. At that time, membrane proteins that were anchored via glycolipids, rather than transmembrane protein domains, had just been found and this was the first precursor to be reported. The structure is simplified but basically correct, although considerable artistic license has been taken with bond lengths and angles."

Nitrogen As Horse, Earth, And Air

Matthew writes, "My tattoo is taken from a 1950's biology textbook. The reason it means so much to me is because of the relevence of the nitrogen cycle to the cycle of life. The horse dies, which feeds the plant, which feeds the horse. Its really quite beautiful."

Carl writes: We are each fleeting intersections of the Earth's biogeochemical cycles, the paths of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and the other elements. The carbon cycle is the most familiar of those cycles today, because we are adjusting its knobs so that more carbon is shooting into the atmosphere than was the case before the Industrial Revolution, trapping heat from the sun. If we were to shut the knob off, atmospheric carbon would slowly subside over hundreds of thousands of years as it flowed further on through the carbon cycle, to the bottom of the ocean and ultimately into the bowels of the Earth.

The nitrogen cycle is important as well, and we are also adjusting its knobs. Today the nitrogen entering the world's soil is moving at twice its natural rate, thanks to our production of fertilizers and burning of fossil fuels. The nitrogen that gets into streams flows out to the oceans where it triggers runaway explosions of microbes, leading to oxygen-free "dead zones" in places like the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. These dead zones would be far bigger if not for the help we get from a hidden part of the nitrogren cycle--bacteria in the soil and banks of streams and rivers. Some of these microbes have the biochemical wherewithal to pull nitrogen out of the water and turn it into molecular nitrogen or nitrous oxygen (N20), which diffuses into the air. But these bacteria cannot turn the knobs all the way back; the more nitrogen they are given, the less efficient they get at converting it. As the world's population grows and releases more nitrogen, the hidden parts of its cycle may come painfully to light.

[Image via Wikipedia]

Anatomy of a Bench-Press

Julian writes

Attached is my tattoo of the 17β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one molecule a.k.a testosterone. I got it a couple of years ago after many years of thinking about getting it. I have a degree in biotechnology and am currently undertaking honours in molecular biology. I am studying the effects of glucocorticoids on fetal lung development.

The tat has to do with my love of lifting heavy weights and the most important molecule for that is testosterone. People can take all the synthetic testosterones and steroid derivatives they want but nothing feels better than knowing after a heavy lift that all you used was that which your testes produced.

I also like to look at it and draw inspiration or just contemplate. I contemplate on what it is to be a man and what it means to be masculine and that it's about strength of character and not just being strong. The best thing about it is that it's unique and brings a smile when I tell people what it is - crazy scientists!

Carbon

"I am a biochemist, studying to be a molecular biologist, and the tattoo I am sending is the entry for carbon on the periodic table of elements. Since all living things on this planet at least are carbon based, from a chemical standpoint, it doesn't get much more basic than carbon. Hence the tattoo." --Erin

The Romance of Glucose

"Here’s a tattoo of glucose (b-D-glucopyranose, to be more exact) that I have on my back. Somewhere out there is a young lady with the same tattoo in smaller version on her ankle. Alas, a lost love…" --A chemistry professor

Capsaicin

"My capsaicin tattoo on my hip. I'm a food scientist."

Celiac

Jessica Pikul writes: I am a Chemistry PhD student at University of Washington. My research is in bioinorganic chemistry, specifically modeling non-heme iron-sulfur metalloenzymes. I am also a Celiac (autoimmune disorder triggered by ingesting gluten). The tattoo on my leg is one of the segments of the gluten protein that I can not digest. The ball and stick molecule is of a Proline-Serine-Glutamine-Glutamine peptide that I can't break down which then stimulates T-cells to start the fun chain reaction that ends in my small intestine villi being attacked by antibodies. The background to the molecule is an artsy spacescape. I chose this to speak to the universality of the physical laws that govern the microscopic and macroscopic, an idea that has kept me excited about chemistry and in the lab to this day (and hopefully longer).