MadSci Network: Biochemistry
Query:

Re: Why don't cold temperatures harden seal blubber?

Date: Sat Feb 14 09:05:40 1998
Posted By: Samuel Conway, Senior Scientist, Message Pharmaceuticals, Aston, PA
Area of science: Biochemistry
ID: 884733824.Bc
Message:

Remember that the fat you see in the kitchen has been rendered (cooked) so that all that is left is the long-chain fatty acids themselves.^M

M In the body, fat is stored in living cells ( adipose tissue cells) which also contain water and enzymes which keep the fat from congealing. You can imagine it as a whole array of little water- balloons stacked in an insulating layer, rather than a big slab of lard sitting under the skin.

Although, as I look in a mirror, the latter seems more applicable. :(


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