Your videos, in my opinion, are the best on the internet. I honestly think that the only reason that you do not have hundreds of thousands of subscribers is because of the production value - the bigger, more established channels often have decent content but great production, and that tricks a lot of students.
Thank you. I really needed to hear some positivity today so I really appreciate you taking the time to comment that. I plan to one day invest a bit and redo all the videos (plus adding some other different type of content). Could I ask, did the visual quality of the video ever hinder the explanation? Where there ever times you couldn’t see a molecule or anything else in any of the videos where it affected your learning?
@@sciencesimplified3890 your videos got me through mcat studying in ways that other resources couldn’t. now in med school, ive found myself revisiting your channel and literally watching all of your videos again. you make content so simple and digestible while still keeping the depth and broad application of the material. i’m glad i ended up watching your videos becuase like daniel stated, the production value isn’t what we’re visually “used to” (or inclined to watch) on the youtube platform where we expect high quality production, sometimes masking good, but not AMAZING teaching like yours. for example, i can see how the clicking and going back and forth and speed can distract some looking for a more streamlined visual, but honeslty those reasons are why i love your videos and teaching method. when you make a stroke and undo, it instantly directs my attention to the exact part of the figure, and undoing the stroke prevents any clutter. with that said, i personally would not change a thing about your video content and for anyone who wants a little higher production value needs to consider just how much work it takes to pre-make visuals and time the script, all things that could detract from your ability to upload high volumes of videos on many different topics. please keep doing you. you’re giving all of us students FREE access to some of the best med-related content and it would make me happy to know that your efforts are focused on teaching in ways you are comfortable with and that you’re not burdened by production-constraints in the future. now.. back to integrating metabolic pathways. haha *typed this all at once on my phone so apologies for any rambling or typos
@@sciencesimplified3890 however, one of the benefits of higher quality production would be that maybe professors and educators would be more inclined to include your videos as a supplement to their curriculum. also, as success and viewership on this visual medium of youtube is near inseparable with production value, you’d probably be able to reach a wider audience with better thumbnails and visually appealing content. but as stated, i personally find the way you make your videos now really helpful, especially because it complements your speed and style of teaching. sometimes, less is more. on a side note, the efficiency of your teaching is comparable to that of the noted anatomist, a resource many first year anatomy students, myself included, find incredibly helpful.
@@sciencesimplified3890 sorry, i keep remembering things i’ve wanted to comment since studying for the mcat but never did. any time you add a layer and the layer panel drops down on the right, it basically primes my brain to notice the new layer/topic you’re introducing. at the speed and continuity with how you teach, i think it’s more helpful than just adding the new layer, which i imagine could be too subtle to notice. also, i like how your diagrams are just shapes with labels. it allows me to focus on your voice and not be detracted by other stimuli like a picture of a brain or a realistic image of the pancreas. i get easily distracted so really, your less is more approach and keeping the essentials is really helpful to me.
Studying for the MCAT now and going through your videos- they are extremely helpful! Had a question on this video though. Around 3:52 you say glucose from the liver gluconeogenesis goes to the brain, and the keto acids enter the blood to get taken up by other cells. I've read in my MCAT review books and online that the keto acids actually are used to supply the brain as they can cross the blood brain barrier. When you use the example of the generic cell taking up the ketone acids does that include brain cells?
The technical way to think about this is to analyze the enzyme kinetics of different glucose transporter isoforms.. Neurons have a glucose transporter isoforms that has a low Km and therefore a high affinity for glucose.. therefore when blood glucose levels are low, the brain will be the main tissue that has access to that blood glucose... However, neurons (like other cells) do have the ability to take up and metabolize ketones into acetyl-coa to enter the TCA cycle and be used as a source of energy... But generally speaking, the way most introductory textbooks explain it is that the brain prefers to use glucose as it’s primary source of energy, and the during a fast the liver is doing gluconeogensis to create glucose to keep the brain and red blood cells happy (red blood cells don’t have mitochondria and therefore cannot utilize ketone bodies as a source of energy, so they don’t have a choice and are required to use glucose as their source of energy)... But when glucose levels are exceedingly low for a prolonged period of time (fasting or ketogenic diet) the brain can eventually begin to use ketones as its primary source of energy... this is advantageous because the body must use up precious proteins and amino acids to build glucose molecules in gluconeogensis... therefore if the brain can begin to use ketone bodies as it’s primary source of energy, the liver doesn’t have to make as much glucose through gluconeogensis and therefore can spare using up precious amino acids..
Love your videos ! However, I am wondering ~why~ ketogenesis occurs this way. This may be a stupid question, but if fatty acids are turned into acetyl coA in the liver, why bother making acetoacetate (and then hydroxybutyrate) if the other cells are just going to break it back down into acetyl-coA? What’s keeping the acetyl-coA from entering the bloodstream? Why can’t the acetylcoA leave the mitochondria as citrate, convert back to acetylCoA and then ~somehow~ enter the bloodstream? Ketogenesis seems like a long process with little payoff (which is why I assume ketoacids are pretty much a last resort)
Well, the 100% honestly truth is that what I’m saying is just a guess so I’m not 100% sure... But acetyl-coa is a very large molecule (the coa group has a relatively large atomic mass) so it would be difficult to transport a large acetyl-coa in and out of cells and organelles... Also, this part is really just speculation and it’s probably a simplification, but I know the liver is unable to process ketoacids as a source of energy it doesn’t have the enzymes needed to do so... and the liver wants to provide a source of energy for the rest of the body... so the proteinomics of hepatocytes is designed to convert that excess energy in the free fatty acids into keto acids, a form of energy that the liver can’t use and is forced to be shared with the rest of the body... essentially what I’m saying is that the system is designed so that the enzymes in hepatocyte are not able to use all the energy for its self and is essentially forced to share that energy with the rest of the body making the liver an effective system for energy distribution regulation...
But that is a very interesting question I really had to think about that one and honestly I don’t know those are just off the top of my head guesses... it’s not a specific concept that many textbooks explicitly describe like there isn’t a specific “textbook” explanation that I’m currently aware of...
@@sciencesimplified3890 after posting this question, I googled the structure of acetylcoA and literally laughed aloud at how large and polar it is. It definitely isn't a candidate for easy membrane passage. the idea of proteinomics of the hepatocytes makes a lot of sense and is the idea I am going to run with - thanks for giving me your best guess ! glad I could challenge your brain !
