Posted by My STEAM project is a comic styled book that I’ve written and illustrated. This comic highlights and personifies one of the many jobs of a motor protein called kinesin and how it works in order to support brain function more specifically, how it helps neurons carry action potentials. This little motor protein was only discovered by scientists in 1985 but without it along with other motor proteins, we simply wouldn’t be able to exist because all the cells in your body depends on them to power themselves in order for your cells to be able to communicate.
Cameron goes in depth on the role that the motor protein, kinesin, has on the process of synaptic transmission which is the process that happens in order for neurons to communicate with one another. Kinesin carries cargo to the axon tip via the microtubules. This is displayed by a comic strip of a kinesin named Kenny and his journey through the microtubule. The microtubule is a road that Kenny walks down with his cargo, along the road you see stores which represent the actin. Kenny also runs into Mya who is a myson, Devin who is a Dynein and a police officer who is a regulation protein so you can see what happens when kinesin comes into contact with them along the microtubule. This process is what allows billions of neurons to carry electrical signals back and forward in order for them to communicate. As one Kenny finishes his job, another one is already starting. Without this steady flow of Kenny’s a person could potentially develop brain disease and we would not exist. This comic strip is a great way to help kids understand the different things that happen in our body and even help them to understand what happens when things don’t work properly and how it affects our bodies. This allows kids to start learning about what goes on in their bodies at an earlier age which will allow them to understand themselves even better. Cameron did an amazing job at going in depth on the roles of Kinsein while making it an easy and fun way to learn, I would recommend this comic to anyone who is trying to learn more about the synaptic transmission process.