TOPICAL PETROCHEMISTRY
Oil, Bitumen, Coal Tar, Tar, Asphalt, Pitch & Topical Petrochemistry
Tarmac
“Topical Petrochemistry” describes how oil, gas, fossil fuels, coal 
and petroleum products have been applied to the exterior of bodies (Oil, Coal Tar, Vaseline)
human and otherwise, to further health, sustenance and cosmetic 
goals. Histogram showing increa-sing abundance of bitumen HURT 
“The relatively recent growth of the human population is connected to the in mummy balms from the Predynastic to Roman pe-
story of fossil fuel, whether we look back on human history or anticipate riod. From Clark, K. A., Ik- Hydrocarbon Universal Running Tool 
our futures. After all, it was fossil fuel energy, ‘and only fossil fuel energy, ram, S., & Evershed, R. P. 
[that] made it possible to break with the old agrarian pattern and construct (2016). The significance of 
the industrial world,’ writes the “peak oil theorist” John Michael Greer. petroleum bitumen in an- Diagenesis is a process of compaction under mild conditions cient Egyptian mummies. 
The benefits (for humans) of plentiful and cheap energy derived from fos- Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, of temperature and pressure. When organic aquatic sediments 
sil fuel have been innumerable: food improved, both in quality and quan- 374(2079), 20160229. (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) are deposited, they are very 
tity, improvement in housing and clothing, more hygienic and healthier “The healthful balm, saturated with water and rich in minerals. Through chemical 
conditions in many places, public safety (better policing), and better illu- from Nature’s secret reaction, compaction, and microbial action during burial, wa-
mination. The exponential growth of both human population and our av- spring, ter is forced out and proteins and carbohydrates break down 
erage life span in the twentieth century—and here, of course, the poor are to form new structures that comprise a 
included in both figures—have generally had much to do with fossil fuels The bloom of waxy material known as “kerogen” and 
through the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, pumps for irrigation, and health, and life, to a black tar like substance called “bi- tu-
the use of petrochemicals in the manufacture of common pharmaceutical man will bring; men”.  All of this occurs within the first 
products such as antibiotic medicines.” As from her depths several hundred meters of burial.
— Dipesh Chakrabarty, “The Human Condition in the Anthropocene” - The Tanner the magic liquid — (US Geological Survey)
Lectures in Human Values, Delivered at Yale University February 18–19, 2015 flows,
To calm our suffer- Bitumen is the product of 
ings, and assuage 
our woes” deposition and maturation of organic mat-
— Seneca Oil Adver- ter, and the extractable organic material by 
HISTVISME tisement c. 1850 organic solvents in petroleum source rocks and reservoir rocks is often defined as bitu-
Historical Viscosity Measurement men. Upon exposure to high regional tem-
“Vacuum Residue is the bottom product from the vacuum distillation peratures over geological time, bitumen is 
unit, used to process bitumen. It has several options for its use in meet- converted to pyrobitumen as a result of the 
ing a refinery’s product slate. In the case of the energy refineries it can 
be upgraded to prime distillate products by a recycling thermal cracking thermally activated reactions that drive off 
process, co.king, deep oil fluid catalytic cracking or hydro-cracking or lighter oil and gas products and leave an in-
in- deed a combination of these processes.” soluble, carbon-rich residue.
— oilngasseparator.info
The book of Genesis refers to bitumen as a main material used in Pyrobitumen represents a significant fraction of the ultimate 
the construction of the Tower of Babel, and the Epic of Gilgamesh fate of petroleum liquids formed from kerogen during cata-
(c. 2500 BC) reports of bitumen use in the construction of Babylon. genesis. In the laboratory, experiments on organic-rich rocks (oil shale and petroleum source rocks), decomposition of the 
“The building of Babel in the land of Shinar by a people that had bricks initially insoluble organic matter (defined as kerogen) pro-
for stones and bitumen had they for mortar” (Genesis xi) duces gaseous and liquid products.The soluble fluid that re-mains in the heated rock is often defined (incorrectly) as bi-
Bitumen, tar and coal tars were substances that fascinated al- tumen. Upon further thermal exposure, this type of bitumen 
chemists, calling up as it does the material-chemical, curative continues to evolve and reacts further to produce a harder py-
and aesthetic potencies of the nigredo, or the black nothing from robitumen along with volatile products (liquid distillate and 
which all potential difference, value and otherness is derived, and gas).
pictured in Robert Fludd’s et sic in infinitum, 1624: — (US Geological Survey)
Bitumen, tar and coal tars were substances that 
fascinated alchemists, calling up as it does the 
material-chemical, curative and aesthetic po-
Ancient Assyrian alchemists recommended asphalt for tencies of the nigredo, or the black nothing from 
topical medicinal purposes, as well as for building pur- which all potential difference, value and otherness 
poses, and perhaps there is some merit in the fact that is derived, and pictured in Robert Fludd’s et sic in 
the Assyrian moral code recommended that asphalt, infinitum, 1624:
in the molten state, be poured onto the heads of delin-
quents. Pliny, the Roman author, also notes that bitumen 
could be used to stop bleeding, heal wounds, drive away 
snakes, treat cataracts as well as a wide variety of other diseases, and straighten out 
eyelashes which inconvenience the eyes. One can appreciate the use of bitumen to stop 
bleeding but its use to cure other ailments is questionable and one has to consider what 
other agents were being used concurrently with bitumen.
The Egyptians were the first to 
embalm their dead, wrapping bodies 
in cloth. Before 1000 BC, asphalt 
was rare- ly used in this mummifica-
tion, ex- cept to coat the cloth wrap-
pings and thereby further protect A man lies in a bathtub filled with What was once called mum, 
the body. Bodily cavities were first crude oil during 
filled with a mixture of resins and a health therapy mummia or mumia is defined by session at Naf-
SHIFT REGISTER spices, and then corpses were im-mersed in a bath of potash or soda, talan Health Cen-ter in Baku, Azer- at least three main mineralogical 
dried, and finally wrapped. For a baijan June 27. 
brief pe- riod (500 to about 40 BC) (From Businessin- terms:
asphalt was used in cases to fill the sider.com)
corpse cavities, as well as to What was once called mum, mummia or mumia 
coat the cloth wrappings. The word is defined by at least three main mineralogical 
mûmûia first appears in Arabian and terms:
Byzan- tine literature, signifying 
bitumen. The spread of the Islamic 1. Bitumen (from Latin bitūmen) originally meant 
Empire brought Arabic science, “a kind of mineral pitch found in Palestine and 
and the use of bitumen, to western Babylon, used as mortar, etc. The same as as-
Europe. phalt, mineral pitch, Jew’s pitch, Bitumen juda-
Map of the Near East showing the locations of the major icum”, and in modern scientific use means “the 
natural asphalt deposits — Connan, J. (1999). Use and generic name of certain mineral inflammable sub-
trade of bitumen in antiquity and prehistory: molecular 
archaeology reveals secrets of past civilizations. Philo- stances, native hydrocarbons more or less oxy-
sophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: genated, liquid, semi-solid, and solid, including 
Biological Sciences, 354(1379), 33-50. naphtha, petroleum, asphalt, etc.”
In Persian, the term bitumen re- ferred to a paraffin wax that was symptomatic of some 
of the crude oils in the area and re- mained after the destructive distillation of bitumen — 2. Asphalt (from Ancient Greek ásphaltos “as-
paraffins crystallized from the mixture over time. In Syriac, the term bitumen alluded predominantly to substances used for mummification. In phalt, bitumen”) first meant “A bituminous sub-
Egypt, natural resins were used extensively for the purposes of embalming up to the Ptolemaic period 305 to 30 BC, when asphalts gradual- stance, found in many parts of the world, a 
ly came into use. smooth, hard, brittle, black or brownish-black resinous mineral, consisting of a mixture of dif-
ferent hydrocarbons; called also mineral pitch, 
Jews’ pitch, and in the [Old Testament] ‘slime’”, 
“Bitumen is the agent most closely associated with Egyptian embalming: The word “mum- and presently means “A composition made by 
my” has long been thought to come from mumiyah, the Arabic word for bitumen. For cen- mixing bitumen, pitch, and sand, or manufactured 
turies many people have believed that some mummies owe their black appearance to a from natural bituminous limestones, used to pave 
thick coating of the material, which is found floating in blocks on the Dead Sea and seeps streets and walks, to line cisterns, etc.”, used as 
from the earth throughout the Middle East. Yet the Bristol team couldn’t find a trace of it in an abbreviation for asphalt concrete. Until the 
their samples. 20th century, the Latinate term asphaltum was also used. 
Small quantities of bitumen may have been used to waterproof some Roman-era mummies, 
Bristol concedes. But “the idea that bitumen was widely and generally used is just rub- 3. Pissasphalt (from Greek pissasphaltus “pitch” 
bish, quite frankly,” Buckley says. “Some mummies are not black; they’re only black when and “asphalt”) names “A semi-liquid variety of bi-
they’re unwrapped by people,” rather as a cut apple browns when exposed to air. Given that tumen, mentioned by ancient writers”.
beeswax was a primary material used in mummification, Buckley says, the real origin of 
“mummy” may lie much closer to home: In Egyptian Coptic, the word for wax is mum.”
— Glausiusz, J. The Chemistry of Mummies: The secret ingredients used by Egyptian embalmers Likewise, creosote, pitch, coal tar and tar are 
are revealed at last. Discovery Magazine. Friday, March 01, terms that have described varying viscocities 
2002 and types of Mummia, ac-
curately and inac-
curately. All are 
dark brown oils 
The black stuff is heavily prescribed in and sol-
Greek and Roman medicine as a treat- id-liq- uid 
ment for everything from toothaches. composites, 
Pliny says it should be used in the treat- containing vari-
ment of “mammary excoriations“ (Sir ous phenols and 
John Rose Cormack. A Treatise on the other organ- ic 
Chemical, Medicinal, and Physiological compounds, dis-
Proper- ties of Creosote: Illustrated tilled from coal tar and used, broadly speaking, 
by Experi- ments on the Lower Animals: as preservatives. Pitch, creosote, coal tar and 
with Some Considerations on the Embal- bitumen have properties that make it essential 
ment of the Egyptians. Being the Har- for waterproofing and electrical insulation. It has 
veian Prize Dissertation for 1836). Many found its way into hundreds of applications from 
millennia later, with the coming of Islam, road surfacing, to ship building, to roofing, to in-
Muslim physicians began to prescribe dustrial anode and cathode production.
it for skin ailments and wounds. 
The me- dicinal use of bituminous 
mummia has parallels in Ayurveda: 
shilajit or silajit (from Sanskrit shilajatu 
„rock-con- queror“) or mumijo (from Per-
sian mūm- iyā „wax“) is a name given to 
various solid or viscous substances 
found on rock in India and Nepal, including a dark-brown odoriferous 
substance which is used in traditional Indian medicine and probably con-
sists principally of dried animal urine. 
This geo-chemical-medicinal lineage short circuits toward petroleum 
jelly, lip-balm and petro-cosmetics. Vaseline, the Brooklyn-born balm, 
was American inventor and chemist Robert Chesebrough’s brainchild. 
Chesebrough created the hydrocarbon mixture first in 1859, inspired 
by the resurgence of alchemical texts and practices in Europe. He dis-
tilling a raw slurry leftover from Pennsylvania oil fields called “rod wax”. 
Chesebrough took to pouring acid on himself and burning himself with 
flames in public demonstrations in order to example the healing powers 
of his product. He also ate two spoonfuls of distilled rod wax a day. We 
now rub petroleum on ourselves; we smear our children with oil.
Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info
For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are 
February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris 
Edited by Jamie Allen, Martin Howse, Jonathan Kemp
Designed by Merle Ibach
APETE HaFHD 
Artistic Petrophysical Evaluation HOPS Health and Fire Hazard HERPIS 
The practice or belief that it was used to preserve bodies forges a connection be- Heavy Oil Production Data 
Health and Environment Related Pe-
tween tar, coal tar, asphalt and bitumen and bodily health, as well as aesthetic Systems  trocultural Infrastructure SystemsRoutes of Entry:
pleasures. Inaugurating two-millennia of profiteer-
ing derived from the ground up remains of dried, Inhalation, Skin, Mucous Membranes, Eye Contact And Ingestion At Elevated Tempera-
mummified body parts, used as tinctures and teas, ture Only The Naftalan resort is located 50 km from the ancient city of 
Effects of Exposure / Symptoms: Ganja (Kirovabads), the second largest city in Azerbaijan, in pigments and powers. The ground up Nude De- A Moderate Irritant. a green area in a pine park on the shore of an artificial lake. 
bodily remains of mummies constituted scending a In the shady alleys Staircase. Emergency Treatment: 
representations of the fleshy imagings of Painting Remove Victim To Fresh Air, Contacted 
of the park created a 
by Marcel Body Part To Be Immediately Plunged Un- great comfortable at-
modern artists like Marcel Duchamp. The Duchamp, der Cold Running Water For Ten Minutes. mosphere for rest and 1912. treatment. The history 
pigment “Mummy Brown,” a dark brood- Serious Eye Damage/Eye Irritation - Cate-gory 2A Skin Sensitization - Category 1 of the Resort Naftalan 
ing greyish-brown, was popular amongst Causes serious eye irritation. has its origins in 1873, when the naphthalene 
European artists well into the early twen- May cause an allergic skin reaction.
tieth-century. It was a colour created from Germ Cell Mutagenicity - Category 2 Car-cinogenicity - Category 1B
the grinding up mummified corpses, avail- Suspected of causing genetic defects.May cause cancer.
able into the mid-1970s (McCouat, Philip. Reproductive Toxicity - Category 2 was extracted 
“The Life and Death of Mummy Brown,” Suspected of damaging fertility or the un-born child. manually from 
Journal of Art In Society, 2013). shallow wells. 
EUQ Specific target organ toxicity - Single expo- “Thick blood of Mummia became a lengthy and unusual chapter in sure - Category 1 ( blood )Causes damage to organs. the earth” - the 
the history of both art and medicine, begin- ning with EDIBLE UTILITY so-called naphtha-
a well known Persian mumiya black pis- sasphalt Specific target organ toxicity - Single expo-
lene. It has been 
QUOTIENT sure - Category 2 ( eyes ) over 100 years remedy for wounds and fractures, which was then confused with similarly appear- May cause damage to organs. since the beginning of the study and application of therapeu-
Specific Target Organ Toxicity - Repeated tic properties naftalan. Its efficacy in various diseases con-ing black bituminous materials used for Egyptian mummification, which then gave The French tradition of Exposure - Category 1 ( blood , eyes , firmed by the results of more than 1,600 scientific papers and 
way to misinterpretations by Medieval Latin translators and alchemists to mean Gigot bitume involves a respiratory system ) monographs.  (naftalan-booking.com/)
whole mummies. All of this was further complicated by greed for profitable fake leg of lamb wrapped in 
Causes damage to organs through 
prolonged or repeated exposure.
kraft paper and cooked in 
mummy drugs, dust and paints. a bath of molten bitumen. It is a traditional prepara- Hazardous to the Aquatic Environment 
tion for a ceremonial meal - Acute - Category 1To cause the face to appear in a mass of Very toxic to aquatic life with long las-ting effects.
flame make use of the following: mix to- that celebrates the end         ACKNOWL-
gether thoroughly petroleum, lard, mutton of a construction project, Hazardous to the Aquatic EDGEMENTS
tallow and quick lime. Distill this over and takes place on the 
charcoal fire, and the liquid which results Its character is of a solid at normal room 
a construction sites of build- Environment - Chronic - Category 1 Fire Fighting Meas- Special 
temperatures, which can be shattered with ings and public works. Very toxic to aquatic life 
ures — Avoid in-
can be burned on the face without harm. with long lasting effects. halation of mate- thanks to Dr. E. Villemin 
— Harry Houdini a hard impact. It is always fluid, flowing 
rial or combustion 
Suitable Extinguishing 
Media — regular dry che- by-products. Move 
of the Orga-
imperceptibly over long durations — artist 
Rosemary Lee has highlight this through Topical Petro- nometallic mical, carbon dioxide, regular container from foam, water spray fire area if it can chemistry and be done without Polymeriza-
the slippage or spillage from ‘durée’ (as Unsuitable Extinguishing Media risk. Stay upwind tion catalysis — high-pressure water streams group, Institut 
in length or period of time) to ‘dureté’ (as and keep out of Hazardous Combustion Pro- low areas. Use de Recherche 
in durability or hardness). Unhindered in ducts — oxides of carbon extinguishing agents appropriate for surround- de Chimie Paris (Prof. C. 
its movement, bitumen is an allegorical chemistry Advice for firefighters — Slight fire ing fire. Flood with fine water spray. Directly spraying water or foam onto hot burning prod- Thomas) and 
material, a substance that examples ob- hazard. Contact with heat may ge-nerate toxic and/or flammable ga- uct may cause frothing. For fires in cargo or Laboratory 
durate, slow violence—while fluid, it can (Oil, Coal Tar, Vaseline) ses. storage area: Cool containers with water from for Inorgan-Containers may rupture or explode if exposed to heat. unmanned hose holder or monitor nozzles un- ic Chemical HID effect great earthquakes and powerful rup- til well after fire is out. If this is impossible then Biology (Dr. G. Gasser), 
Health and Welfare tures—a cracking, liquid earth.
take the following precautions: Keep unneces-
sary people away, isolate hazard area and deny Chimie Paris-
entry. Withdraw immediately in case of rising Tech, PSL 
Improvement Data sound from venting safety device or any discol- Research oration of tanks due to fire. University. 
Thanks as 
Coal tar topical (for the skin) is well to 
used to treat the skin symptoms Professor Syl-
of psoriasis, including dryness, vie Michel of 
redness, flaking, scaling, and the Equipe 
itching. Tar can help slow the The major chemical components of Pharmacog-
rapid growth of skin cells and coal tar solutions are aromatics, and nosie, Chimie 
restore the skin’s appearance. other components from partially hydro- des substanc-
In addition, it can help reduce genated aromatics and heterocycles. es Naturelles 
the inflammation, itching and Non-exhaustively, chemical compounds Lip-balm, also known as “lip salve” is Synthetic Color and Dyes (FD&C at Université scaling of psoriasis. Tar prod- contained in Coal Tar Topical solutions a petrochemical derivative, applied Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6, Red Paris Des-
ucts can vary dramatically from include: topically to the lips of the mouth to 33) cartes, Facul-
brand to brand. Coal tar is not moisturize and relieve chapped or 
a cure for psoriasis, and it will dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, Derived from coal tar, FD&C color 
té de Pharma-
provide only temporary relief of 1 ring aromatics pigments contain heavy metal salts The chemicals in sunscreen 
cie and for the 
or cold sores. Lip balm often contains 
skin symptoms. that deposit toxins onto the skin, are disruptive to the body’s 
wonderful visit 
Benzene; 1,2-dimethylbenzene; Biphe- beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, causing skin sensitivity and irritation. hormone system. The most to the mu-
MG217 is 3% coal tar, as nyl; Phenol; toluene; xylene; cresol (3 cetyl alcohol, lanolin, paraffin, and common chemical sun- seum there. 
strong as you can get without a isomers); p-cresol; o-cresol. petrolatum, among other ingredients. 
Animal studies have shown almost all 
Some varieties contain dyes, flavor, FD&C colors to be carcinogenic.
screen is oxybenzone can Also, much 
prescription. Coal tar is excel- act like estrogen in the body, appreciation 
lent on some psoriasis suffer- 2 fused rings fragrance, phenol, salicylic acid, and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) altering, amongst other for instructive 
ers at reducing inflammation on Naphthalene; Phenanthrene; Indene; In- various chemicals which affect sun-their scalp while simultaneously screening. BHT has been show to mimic estro-
things, sperm production. exchanges 
slowing down cell regeneration. dan. gen (endocrine disruptor).  Is is linked 
Petrolatum (petroleum jelly, miner- with Chris-
The anti-fungal properties of 3 fused rings
The major petrochemical compo- to developmental and reproductive al oil): tian Bonah, 
nents of lip-balm are aromatics, and MD, PhD and 
coal tar can also help alleviate toxicity, and a possible carcinogen.Anthracene; Anthraquinone; Dicyclopen- other components from partially hy- Petrolatum is refined from petroleum 
Professor for 
mild cases of seborrheic der- drogenated aromatics and hetero- Fragrance and Flavor (oil), processes which use toxic com- History of Sci-
matitis but there are better in- tadiene; Acenaphtene; Acenaphthylene; Fluorene; cycles. Non-exhaustively, chemical The U.S. Federal Drug Administra- pounds. Petroleum jelly can become 
ence as well 
gredients on the market. compounds contained in lip-balms in- tion allows manufacturers to include contaminated by PAHs (polycyclic ar- as Nils Kes-sel, Maître de 
After 40 years of suffering with Warnings: For external use only. Ask a doctor before use if condition 4 fused rings clude: a panapoly of ingredients in products 
omatic hydrocarbons). PAHs are po-
psoriasis and trying different prod- covers a large area of the body. When using this product avoid contact Pyrene; Chrysene; Fluranthrene; Ben- Parabens (methylparaben, butyl- under the term “fragrance”, without 
tentially carcinogenic and are linked conférences à 
to breast cancer. Petrolatum also l’Université de 
ucts, I finally got relief from this with the eyes. If contact occurs, rinse eyes thoroughly with water. Use zo[k]fluoranthene; paraben, etc.) having to list the constituent chem-
terrible condition when I found caution in exposing skin to sunlight. It may increase your tendency to ical compounds. Many of these are 
creates an airtight barrier on the skin, Strasbourg, 
MG217 Medicated Coal Tar Oint- sunburn for up to 24 hours after application. Do not use with other Heterocycles (in which the ring contains Parabens are known to interfere with composed of phthalates, which are 
causing it to act as a “penetration both of DHVS 
ment and MG217 Medicated Coal forms of psoriasis therapy such as ultraviolet radiation or prescrip- one or many hetroatoms such as nitro- hormone function, linked to increased risk of breast cancer and reproductive are hormone disruptors linked to pre-
enhancer” aggravating the effects of Département 
Tar Lotion. I only wish I knew tion drugs unless directed by a physician. Do not use for prolonged gen, oxygen , sulfur) toxicity, and may also interfere with term births, reproductive birth defects 
other chemicals by increasing ab- d’histoire des 
periods without consulting a physician. Stop use and ask a doctor if in males, reduced fertility, and exac- sorption into the bloodstream.
sciences de 
about it earlier. It would have defi- Pyridine; Indole; Benzofurane; Carba- la vie et de 
nitely changed my life. But better condition worsens or condition does not improve after regular use of male reproductive functions.  In a sur- erbation of allergy and asthma symp- la santé in 
late than never! this product as directed. Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, 
zole; Quinoline; Quinaldine; Thiophene prising recent study, methylparaben toms. Strasbourg. 
get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. This was found to block the breast cancer 
— L.C. -Haddonfield, NJ (www. drug tamoxifen (more). nSouxnastcer,e Oencsti s(Oxybenzone, Oproduct contains coal tar, a product known in the state of California alate, Octocryle
cntei-, Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info Gratitude and For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
mg217.com/testimonials/letters/) to cause cancer. (amazon.com) Avobenzone, Padimate)
love to Nico-
Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are las Malivel, 
February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris 
Edited by Jamie Allen, Martin Howse, Jonathan Kemp and family.
Designed by Merle Ibach
SHIFT REGISTER
Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info
For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
Enteral Petrochemistry Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris Edited by Jamie Allen, Martin Howse, Jonathan KempDesigned by Merle Ibach
(Pharmaceuticals) ENTERAL PETROCHEMISTRY Precursors, Distillations, Reactants, Pharmaceuticals, Medici-
nes, Preparations, Nutrition & Digestion 
“Gespeicherte Sonnenenergie” / 
“Stored Sun Energy” a 1934 film 
by Ulrich Kayser for Bayer tracing 
the production of pharmaceuti- “Strange, strange are the dynamics of oil and the ways of oil-
SSEUE cals from sun to pill and back men.” again (Thanks to Christian Bo-
nah, Department for Social Stu-
Solar Sourcing & Economies of dies and Humanities in Medicine ― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity‘s Rainbow (1973)and Health )
Ultimate Expenditure “Enteral Petrochemistry” describes those ways that petroleum serves as a precursor to the synthesis 
stages of internally administered pharmaceutical products. There is widespread understanding that the 
(American, long) Twentieth Century has (d)evolved into a petroculture, inescapably revolving, reacting 
The green parts of the plants of land and sea endless- and resulting from the petrochemical abundance of planet Earth: “In brief, while the 20th century was 
ly implement the appropriation of an important part of the century of oil, the 21st already is unfolding as the century of whatever follows oil, or the century of 
the luminous energ y of the sun. In this way light—sun- fighting over what’s left of oil—or both.” (Gerald F. Seib, “Oil Dependency Overshadows US Policy,”
light— produces us, animates us and engenders our Wall Street Journal, 22 August 2005)
excess. This excess, this animation, is the effect of this 
light (we are essentially only an effect of the sun). In Likewise and at the same time, internal cultures — microbiomes, gastric tissues, respiratory 
practice, from the point of view of wealth, the radia- tracts and circulatory systems — are regularly, oftentimes knowingly and purposefully coated, 
tion of the sun distinguis hes itself with its unilateral soaked and contacted by the pure and applied, reactive and inert products of petrochemistry. 
character: it loses itself without taking account, without This inner petro-fication results in and allows us to to preserve, manage, medicate and  pres-
compensation. The solar economy is founded on this ervation, manage, tolerate and ignore endemic and intermittent disease, discomfort, disability 
principle. Usually, if one envisions our economy on the and deregulations of the body. We are, all, oil women and oil men.
ground, one isolates it. But this is only a consequence 
of that which engenders and dominates it. Tlazolteotl is an Aztec goddess of purification, steam baths, midwives, filth, and a patroness of adulterers. Her dual her 
— Georges Bataille, The Economy Equal to the Universe: dual nature was as the goddess of dirt, but also of purifi-
Brief Notes Preliminary to the Preparation of an Essay on cation as she ate a person’s sins to absolve them before 
“General Economy” Forthcoming Under the Title ‘The Accur- death. Both the „Goddess of Dirt“ (Tlazolteotl) and „Ea-
sed Share’ ter of Ordure“ (Tlahelcuani), she was frequently portrayed with bitumen on her face and 
around her mouth to indicate 
divine excrement (holy shit).
“What was I seeking when you arrived dyed by 
the sunrise COHBOL 
With the sea‘s age in your eyes Chewing On chewed this gum and 
And with the sun‘s health in your body” the Humming where helped orient so-cial, sexual and mari-
— Odysseas Elytis, Age of Glaucous Memory Bird On the Left tal status. Aztec norms strongly disapproved of 
Histories and trajectories of solar geology can gum chewing among 
be told that link to synthetic opiates and birth The Gulf Coast of Mex- men, particularly in pub-
control pills to universal labours; between the ico is an area of major lic. 
oil well and the pharmacy are the twined real- oil drilling today and a region where Huitzilo- Chapopote also had ities, imaginaries and projections of chemical numerous domestic, re-
engineering hopes and practices: on the one pochtli, the Aztec God ligious, industrial and 
hand, “catalytic cracking” breaks down, aka of Sun and War once craft related applica-
“converts”,  petroleum in the refinery to iso- held dominion. Hu- tions, and Aztec priests 
late high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydro- EIISC itzilopochtli’s name is a combination of two used asphaltum for face carbon fractions of crude oils into more valuable 
gasoline, olefinic gases, and precursors like ace- Edible Inedible Inde- Aztec words: huitzilin, and body painting. Sa-
tyls, alcohols, acetates, and others. On the other meaning “humming-
hagún write of its har-
hand lies the dream of “total synthesis”, the com- lible Snack Cakes bird”, and opochtli, vesting from the Gulf:
plete chemical synthesis of a complex molecule, The Twinkie is an American which means “left” — Bitumen [is] black, very 
often a natural product, from simple, commercially snack cake, a “Golden Sponge literally, “Hummingbird on the Left”. black, black; [it is] that which flakes, crum-
available, most often petrochemical, precursors. Cake with Creamy Filling”, 
Synthetic drug production chemistry analyses and Chicle is a chewing gum substance 
bles, breaks up. It comes from the ocean, 
made and distributed by Host- from the sea; it is produced within the ocean. 
calculates petroleum hydrocarbons, opening and made in part from bitumen, or chapa-ess Brands, Inc. which trades pote, a black, natural petroleum tar that When it comes forth, [it is] according to the reconfiguring their structures. Often, a compound on National Association of Se- time count. The waves cast it forth. It comes 
“synthesised by nature” and solar energies is felt washes up onto the beaches of the Mex-curities Dealers Automated forth, it drops out according to the phase of 
to be all too rare, expensive or unruly, and the ori- ican interior, the Caspian sea, and the Quotations (NASDAQ) secu-
entations and efforts of petrocultures becomes to coasts of Norway and China. In addition 
the moon. When it comes forth [it is] like 
rities exchange as “TWNK”. to chewing chicle, ancient peoples used mat, wide, thich. Those of the seashore, replace these rogue creativities with understood Twinkie production was sus- those of the coast lands gather it there. They 
and productive processes and delivery mecha- it for many practical purposes such as pended on November 21, 2012, gather it, they pick it up from the sand.”
nisms. There is a conservationist argument to the adhesives or sealants. Aztec women and resumed after an absence 
use of petrochemical precursors for the synthesis mixed bitumen together with axin, a yel- – The Florentine Codexof at least ten months from 
of rarer hydrocarbons, in that the harvesting of dif- lowish oily substance that they obtained American store shelves, becom-
ficult to find or un-farmed ecologies is lessened by by cooking a small fly-like insect. Bitu-ing available again nationwide 
the presence of. men apparently had a refreshing taste. 
The nearby Chumash people, Califor-
on July 15, 2013 Spanish chronicler Fray Bernardino de nia’s prehistoric peoples collected and 
Petroleum is used in health care, as everywhere else, chewed tar balls which seeped from the There are 39 ingredients in a Sahagun made note of the chewing of 
primarily as a transport fuel, but also significantly as bitumen in his multi-volume treatise on ground in places in that region (like the Twinkie, and all but one are pro-
feedstock for pharmaceuticals, plastics, and medical La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles). They cessed. The list, which includes Aztec culture known as The Floren-
supplies. Few substitutes for these hydrocarbons, be- cellulose gum, calcium sulfate tine Codex (a twelve volume project he 
also used tar to to waterproof woven 
sides oil, are available. This dependence theoretically and polysorbate 60 are useful worked on from 1545 up until his death 
baskets to make drinking vessels. More 
makes health care reliant on “Stored Sun Energy”, and chemical additives for sheetrock in 1590). Bernardino de Sahagún wrote 
recent research reported in New Scien-
vulnerable to petroleum supply shifts, and it is a re- that when it is chewed, bitumen “tires tist in 2011 indicates that “Asphalt May building materials, shampoo, 
liance that is particularly heavy in the United States, one’s head; it gives one a headache.” Have Poisoned Ancient Americans”. Bi-laundry detergent and jet fuel. 
which consumes petroleum disproportionately on a per Each of these processed ingre- (from “The Florentine Codex : Gener-
tumen is a source of polycyclic aromatic 
capita basis compared with other nations. There is in- dients — all vitamins, artificial al History of the Things of New Spain” 
hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are pollut-
creasing consensus that petroleum production has al- ants that have been flavors, colorings, and sorbic by Bernardino de Sa-
ready declined or will soon begin to decline and that acid are made from natural gas hagún,). In Aztec socie-
linked to a number 
constrained supplies will adversely affect all sectors in- of health problems.and petroleum. To stay fresh ty, the way in which you 
clude health care. Health care’s exposure to declines in Of the over 100 polycy-on a grocery-store shelf, Twink-
petroleum production is a fact hiding in plain sight — clic aromatic hydrocarbons ies can’t contain anything that 
the issue has received little attention from economists (PAHs) found in oil, coal and might spoil, like milk, cream, or 
or policymakers, and little has been done to further as- tar, many are harmful butter. Each such perishable 
sess and manage the potential risk. There are historical to humans and life, ingredient, systematically re-
associations between petroleum supply shocks causing infertility and moved 
and health care prices. The In anticipation of stunting the growth of and 
future supply contractions lasting longer than fetuses by damaging reengi-
previous shifts and potentially disrupting health or altering DNA. (Note neered 
care delivery, we propose an adaptive manage- that psoriasis, often as cel-
ment approach and outline its application to the treated with coal tar, lulose 
example of emergency medi- is characterized by gum, 
cal services. an abnormally exces-leci- sive and rapid growth 
(American Journal of Public He- thin, of the epidermal lay-
alth. 2011;101:1568–1579) and er of the skin due 
to excesses of DNA 
sodium stea- released from dying 
royl lactylate cells, which acts as 
give the cakes a an inflammatory stim-
maximum shelf ulus in psoriasis). PAHs may 
life of approxi- “The also have been crucial for 
mately 45 days chicle chewer” from The Florentine the first forms of life, as they 
(1.5 months). Codex, Book X. Axtecs created che-It is sunlight in modified form wing gum by mixing bitumen (aro- contain most of the carbon 
which turns all the windmills and matic tar) with axin (a greasy oil made found in space, and under 
waterwheels and the machinery from crushed insects). the right conditions can be 
which they drive. It is the energy transformed into some of 
derived from coal and petroleum “Well, let’s say this Twinkie represents the complex molecules nec-
(fossil sunlight) which propels our the normal amount of psychokinetic essary for life.
steam and gas engines, our loco- energy in the New York area. Accor-ding to this morning’s sample it would Modern chewing gum 
motives and automobiles. ... Food be a Twinkie…thirty-five feet long is made from syn- Humec- tants, a 
is simply sunlight in cold storage. weighing approximately six-hundred pounds.” thetic substitutes for 
gener- al term 
for hygroscopic gum in the world. In the year 
— John Harvey Kellogg. New —Egon Spengler, Ghostbusters (1984) natural rubbers, for 
Dietetics: What to Eat and How the most part, butadi-
sub- stances that are 2000, this maker of Juicy 
ene-based synthetic used to keep things Fruit, Big Red and Double-(1921), 29 rubbers. The material moist (the opposite of mint gums signaled the ex-
used as a base for chewing gum is High-Puri- a des- iccant) are also pansion of its offerings in 
ty Iso-Butylene (HPIB). Isobutylene is an ole- add- ed to the mix; being granted a U.S. patent 
fin petrochemical that is manufactured from these can include chemical substances like to develop a gum that con-
feedstocks in the petroleum refinery, and is a triacetin, the triester of glycerol (that is, glycol tains a dose of the generic 
four-carbon branched alkene (olefin) — one of with three ‘ester’ groups) first prepared in 1854 chemical in Viagra (patent 
the four isomers of butylene. by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot who No. 6531114). The active was born born in Rue du Mouton. Humectants ingredient of Viagra is silde-
Other chemicals approved for use as a base in are chemicals with an affinity to form hydrogen nafil citrate, itself a drug syn-
chewing gum include styrene-butadiene rub- bonds with molecules of water, and are used in thesised from petrochemical 
ber (SBR), isobutylene-isoprene copolymer, many products — food, cosmetics, medicines sources and patented by 
paraffin wax, petroleum wax, polyethylene, and pesticides — to decrease evaporation and the chemical company Pfiz-
poly-vinyl alcohol and synthetic terpene resin. increase shelf life. er Corp. Chewing gum is used and promoted 
Rubbers become softened when they absorb There are Internet forums rife with stories and as a delivery agent for numerous pharmaceu-oils, and gum bases are similarly made soft- anxious questioning about people chewing tar tical, medicinal and therapeutic products and er when waxes are added; the waxes act as a 
kind of ‘lubricant’ between the strands of the on the job or as children, mostly in poor are-
treatments. Examples include the addition of 
as in the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the late fluoride for strengthening tooth enamel and hydrocarbon polymers in the rubber. Other pet-
rochemically derived ingredients in chewing 19th and early 20th centuries, but also right up 
Nicorette, the brand name for gums and a 
number of other products that effect nicotine 
gum include emulsifiers such as glyveryl-mon- until today. “Wrigley’s” is an American chew-
ostearate, which are also softening agents and ing gum company that was founded on April 
replacement therapy (NRT), against addiction 
enable other components (including flavouring 1, 1891 by William Wrigley Jr. and now wholly 
to that chemical. Nicotine is itself now synthe-
and sugars) to form a homogeneous mixture. owned by Mars, Incorporated. It is the largest 
sised from petrochemical precursors and feed-
manufacturer and marketer of chewing stocks, to feed the growing 
SHIFT REGISTER
Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info
For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
FEEDSARR The 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act empowered American regulators to de-In 1856, an 18-year-old British chemist made Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are 
a mistake in one of his experiments. That Orange #2, and Red #32 from the list. Any potential renewal of 
cide which colors could be used for food, and they only approved seven 
colors. A writer for the The New York Times described with awe the differ- February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris Coloration Cook- mistake marked the beginning of synthetic their status was squelched when testing of all three colors made 
Edited by Jamie Allen, Martin Howse, Jonathan Kemp
ence: As manufacturers adjusted to the new rules, the “masquerade” was tem- Designed by Merle Ibach
books and Contras- food dye. William Henry Perkin wasn’t try-
lab animals seriously ill. Twenty years later, another scare in- porarily stripped away. Some formerly red, jarred cherries, for example, were 
ing to make Red #40 in his lab that day. As volved Red #2. Some tests showed that the color made female rats develop tum- naturally yellow. The coal tar dye used to brighten them had been banned.
ting a research assistant for a famed chemist, he ors. The backlash was so intense that some Perkin also visited New York in 1906. Fifty years after his mauve discov-
Anne Ewbanks writes in a Jan- was trying to whip up synthetic quinine, a treatment for companies stopped sell- ing red-dyed food for the ery, hundreds of chemists celebrated the “magician of coal tar” at a dinner at 
uary 23, 2018 post at Atlas Ob- malaria. Perkin was interested in the properties of coal tar, an abundant byproduct of coke fuel, which comes next decade. The red M&M disappeared until Delmonico’s, the country’s most famous restaurant. The Americans all wore Enteral Pe-scura of a time “When Food 
Dye Was Made From Coal Tar” from heating coal. But instead, he ended up with a dark 
1987. mauve bow ties in his honor.
from the factories of one (lat- powder. Washing out his flask with alcohol, Perkin was 
— Ewbanks
er, Sir) Henry struck by the residue’s bright purple color. 
Perkins. “It was He tried using it to dye silk, and it was a 
considered al- success. Perkin had found the world’s first 
trochemistry 
most magical…” synthetic dye. 
AOPS 
Petroleum now Dozens of illnesses caused by brightly Aspirin Offloa-
colored Halloween candy in 1950 led the PPP 
FDA to strike coal tar colors Orange #1, Planetary Petrochemical Pharmaceutics ding, Production and Storage (Pharmaceuti-
Pharmaceuticals, generally speaking are now vital to modern, bodily health. Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory and one of the first 
This chemical category represents a relatively small but increasing propor- drugs to come into common usage. It remains the 
tion of total petroleum usage. More than half of most adult Western citizens mostly widely used drug in the world. Approxi-
take prescription medications at some point in their lives. Approximately 2.3 mately 35,000 metric tonnes of the pharmaceutical 
billion medication orders or prescriptions were written in 2006 in the U.S. are produced and consumed annually, or approx- cals)FEEDSARR alone. Analgesics, antidepressants, antihyperlipidemics, antidiabetic agents, imately 100 billion standard aspirin tablets each 
antiemetics, and antihistamines are the leading medications prescribed. Ap- year. Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) which, Front End Engineering Design Actants, and Reagents proximately 3% of petroleum production is used for pharmaceutical manu- typically for medicinal chemistry, comes originally 
There are established naming conventions and product matrixes that travel from the pet- facture, but just under 99% of pharmaceutical feedstocks and reagents are from a natural source, although today is difficult to 
rochemical cracking and refining factory to the floor of pharmaceutical manufacturing derived from petrochemicals (Joyce Easter, PhD, Virginia Wesleyan Col- find as a commercial nonsynthetic. It was redevel-
plants. As with any raw material based on extraction, testing for quality and purity are par- lege, December 2010). oped in the laboratory and developed into pill form 
amount, and various ‘grades’ are set for uses. Higher grade materials are used and pro- to be sold at mass market. Natural aspirin can be 
duced variably for customers in pharmaceutical and food industries, and monitored by Pharma- and petro-chemistry two highly interlinked industries, yet they are derived from the herbs meadowsweet and willow 
quality control offices at the shipping and receiving end. The specific petrochemical rea- so in a highly asymmetrically interdependent way. If “big pharma” matters lit- bark, but as a chemical and process was patent-
gents used in the arsenal of offerings by big pharmaceutical development, delivery, mar- tle to big oil, big oil matters a great deal to big pharma. (One is reminded of ed by Bayer 
keting and manufacturing companies would be impossible to list exaustively for all drugs Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s comment that living next to Amer- in Britain (filed 
on the market. A partial listing of pharmaceutically relevant precursors derived from oil ica “is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly 22 December (US Patent 644,077 issued benzene, melt at 136 degrees acid in a 
and gas refineries is included here (all from Burdick & Leffler, “Petrochemicals in Nontech- and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call 1898) and the 27 February 1900).  The (value in the literature is 118 chemi-
nical Language” (2010) it that, one is affected by every twitch and United States word Aspirin was Bayer’s degrees). In contrast [with] the cally pure and stable form. grunt.”). brand name, a drug who’s literature reports, my acetyl The pharmacologist respon-popularity grew over the first product no longer gives a reac-Drug manufacturers may ask where the sible for verifying these re-******************************************  the principal ingredient in this prod- resulted in more than 10,000 deaths. 1919, a petrochemical route based tion with ferric chloride, which 
uct. Clearly this is nasty stuff that calls start- ing materials 
half of the twentieth century sults was skeptical at first, 
The C16 AND C18 ALCOHOLS are on ethylene, sulfuric acid, and water but declined after the devel- readily distinguished it from for the drugs yet once several large-scale 
used extensively in the cosmetics The early sources of phenol were the for those extraordinary safety proce- was developed commercially and they pur- opment of acetaminophen 
salicylic acid. By its physical studies to investigate the 
and pharmaceutical industries as destructive distillation of coal and the dures. called indirect hydration. By 1935, and paracetamol in 1956, properties, e.g. its sour taste substance‘s efficacy and 
emollient additives (the heaviest of manufacture of methyl alcohol from The rapid industrial growth of PHOS- only 10% of the ETHYL ALCOHOL 
chase come engineering firms and then ibuprofen in 1962. without being corrosive, the tolerability had been com-
the higher alcohols are actually wax- was produced this way, primarily be- from, but traceability can be difficult. wood. In both cases, phenol was a in India, and Chi- Bayer’s profits were eaten acetylsalicylic acid differs fa- pleted, it was found to be a GENE is related to the manufacture 
like), intermediates for perfume and  Ask- ing “where do you get your butyl by-product. Recovered volumes were into after its brand name and vourably from salicylic acid, of isocyanates for producing polyu- cause of the expense of the ethylene na. The suppliers of pain-relieving, fever-lower-
avor components, and as a basis for limited by whatever was made acci- rethanes and bisphenol A for poly- at that early stage of the industry. 
lithi- um from?” is somewhat akin to and is now being tested in this 
creams, ointments, and supposito- dentally in the process. Initial com- With the rapid improvements in eth- ask- ing the name of the farmer who 
these Chinese and rights to the trademark were ing and anti-inflammatory 
Indian industries lost or sold in many coun- respect for its usefulness.carbonates. After these two applica- substance. The company 
ries. mercial routes to on-purpose phenol tions, about 10% of the phosgene  ylene technology, the share quickly 
raised the specific chicken for a chick-
grew to 90% by the 1960s. At that en sandwich bought at a McDonalds. The lines of flight, mixing and come from other 
tries, and generic products — From the laboratory journal of then worked to develop a by other  manufacturers pro-
****************************************** involved the reaction of benzene with finds its way into chemical intermedi- smaller industries Felix Hoffman, 10 August 1897 cost-effective production sulfuric acid (1920), chlorine (1928), time, an alternate route, direct hy- transport are many and complex, and those commissioning a drug to ates for pharmaceuticals, pesticides, (from Diarmuid Jeffreys’ 2010 
Until 1959, all the PHTHALIC AN- or hydrochloric acid (1939). All these dration, was developed, eliminating be manufactured to specification will be dealing with pharmaceutical 
which make the liferated. book “Aspirin.”) process that would facilitate 
and agricultural chemicals. petrol cracking and When SALICYLIC ACID the promising active ingredi-
HYDRIDE was made from coal tar were followed by a subsequent hy- the use of sulfuric acid and one step ent to be supplied as a phar-
NAPHTHALENE... which was easily drolysis step (reaction with water to The rapid industrial growth of PHOS- in the process. Direct hydration re-
small chemical con-
versions of these (100.0 parts) is heated with 
On the 10th of August, maceutical product. In 1899 
oxidized directly to phthalic acid. But get the –OH group) to get phenol. GENE is related to the manufacture placed the indirect hydration process acetic anhydride (150.0 parts) 1897, Felix Hoffmann syn-cracking products.  it was marketed for the first 
with phthalic anhydride being only These processes required high tem- of isocyanates for producing polyu- by the 1970s. Advantages were high- for 3 hours under reflux, the thesized acetylsalicylic acid time under the trade name 
a small share of coal oil, and with peratures and pressures to make rethanes and bisphenol A for poly- er yields, less pollution, and lower 
Problems of supply salicylic acid is quantitatively while working at Bayer un- Aspirin, initially as a powder 
the demand for phthalic anhydride the reactions go. They are multistep carbonates. After these two applica- plant maintenance due to less corro-
and temporal latency der Arthur Eichengrün. By 
escalating rapidly, coal tar became processes requiring special metallur- tions, about 10% of the phosgene  sion—all leading to better econom-
A number of synthetic steps which are changed in scaling in material pipelines acetylated. After distilling off 
up from laboratory to manufacturing scales have to do with the acetic acid one obtains the acetylating salicylic acid with 
sup-
plied 
an inadequate source. The frantic gy to handle the corrosive mixtures nds its way into chemical intermedi- ics. such as “using up (chemically relatively simple, but costly) above in the form of needles, acetic acid, he succeeded in search for an alternative route led involved. None of these processes is ates for pharmaceuticals, pesticides, the world’s sup- which, when crystallized from in creating acetylsalicylic 
and agricultural chemicals. Currently, almost all synthetic ETHYL to the development of the recovery in commercial use today. manufacturing limitations. Not every com- ply of magnesi-ALCOHOL is produced via the direct 
process for ORTHOXYLENE from pany, region or industrial plant can do, um bromide” for In 1952, a technological break- ****************************************** catalytic hydration of ethylene. That re nery aromatics streams… and for example, cryo-reactions which require a short time, to through was found: the cumene ox- volume is totally overwhelmed by the the conversion of ORTHOXYLENE METHYL ISOBUTYL KETONE large, one thousand litre liquid nitrogen conduct a single ACKNOWLEDGE-
to phthalic acid and anhydride. With idation route. It was much cheaper, 
fermentation-produced alcohol for 
(MIBK) is more complicated than the cooled vessels. Not every company, region synthetic step, MENTSthe motor fuels market.
the continued growth in the need for and it quickly proliferated. It is now the primary route, accounting for one-step conversion process for ace-
or industrial plant has a large enough pal- can arise in what 
The balance of the industrial ETHYL ladium catalyst contraptions to do relative- is a surprising- Special thanks to Dr. 
almost all of U.S. produc- tone and MEK. Manufacture of MIBK takes the three-step process shown ALCOHOL is in demand as a solvent ly dangerous hydrogenation reactions that 
E. Villemin of the Or-
ly disparate and ganometallic chem- As expected, the increase in sis suggests an tion. in  gure 19–3, starting with acetone. in personal care products (aftershave require large vessels of highly explosive wild industrial istry and Polymeriza- health care inflation is small association be-
The powder form of lotion, mouthwash), inks, cosmet- hydrogen gas under high pressure. Less landscape. tion catalysis group, Some unique applications for MIBK compared with the rise in the tween petroleum PHENOL is usually trad- ics, detergents, household cleaners, a matter of money, than time, plants and Institut de Recherche price of plastics. These pat- supply and health 
ed either as a United include metallurgical extrac- tion pharmaceuticals, industrial coatings, manufacturers are less likely to buy into processes that can de Chimie Paris (Prof. C. Thomas) terns are most evident in care prices that 
States Pure (USP) (98% (particularly plutonium from urani- and as a processing solvent. take many months to commission, startup and test. Valida- and Laboratory for the first oil price shock in the is inconstant over 
minimum) grade or a um), coating solvent for resins, a ****************************************** tion batches are high- Inorganic Chemical time because the 
chemically pure (CP) or reaction solvent in pharmaceuticals, 
1970s, diminishing over time. 
loss, lengthy steps for Biology (Dr. G. Gas- There is increasing volatility in costs of other 
synthetic grade (95% and as an adhesive. It is also used BASF introduced high-pressure tech- new production man- ser), Chimie Paris- oil price inflation that makes it health care com-
plasticizers and the inelasticity of minimum), using nomenclature from in the manufacture of methyl isobutyl nology way back in 1960 to make ufacturers to bring on- line. Tech, PSL Research 
naphthalene supply, orthoxylene now University. Thanks as 
difficult to discern a clear pat- ponents have ris-
the pharmaceutical industry. The first carbinol. ACETIC ACID out of METHANOL well to tern in later shocks. en disproportion-
accounts for 90% of the phthalic an- indicates a grade suitable for human ****************************************** and carbon monoxide instead of ately.                           
hydride supply in the United States. consumption or for manufacture of a ethylene. Monsanto subsequently Professor Sylvie There is little likelihood that 
consumable. The fermentation of sugar in the improved the process by catalysis, Michel of the Equipe Glenmark Pharmaceuticals reverse causation is driving Oil price infla-
In the liquid presence of yeast to produce ETHYL using an iodide-promoted rhodium Pharmacognosie, is a pharmaceutical company these observations because tion has a modest impact on ALCOHOL in the form of wine goes Chimie des sub-PHTHALIC ANHYDRIDE form, the catalyst. This permits operations at headquartered in Mumbai, In- health care delivery consumes health care price inflation, with 
is used largely to make commercial back beyond written history. The 
stances Naturelles 
much lower pressures and temper- dia that was founded in 1977 at Université Paris a relatively small proportion some time lags. Petrochemi-
plasticizer for polyvinyl grades are sugar came from grapes. Later, atures. The methanol and carbon by Gracias Saldanha as a ge- Descartes, Faculté of total petroleum output and cal feedstock costs are likely 
chloride. It is also a feed 90%–92% starch from grain, potatoes, or “corn monoxide, of course, come from a neric drug and active pharma-ceutical ingredient manufac- de Pharmacie and for squeezins” was used also. The yeast does not set demand for pe- a relatively small share of total for alkyd resins and for un- purity and synthesis gas plant.
came from living matter in the form turer; he named the company after his 
the wonderful visit to pharmaceutical costs, how-
saturated polyesters that 82%–84% two sons. Glenmark’s first manufactu- the museum there. 
troleum-based products. Oil ever, which are dominated by 
are widely used in con- purity. of mold or fungus. Yeast contains the More than 65% of the ACETIC ACID ring facility in Nashik, India, which com- Also, much apprecia-
supply shifts are presumed to 
enzyme zymase. It is this enzyme produced in the United States goes menced operations in 1983. The facility tion for instructive ex- not be related to health care marketing, research, and de-struction, marine, and syn- changes with Chris- delivery, so there is little like- velopment (largely la-
thetic marble applications. *************** that catalyzes the fermentation of into vinyl acetate. Nearly all the vinyl is equipped to manufacture products 
sugar. Mix sugar (in grape juice) with acetate ends up as polyvinyl acetate, across various dosage forms: Oral so- tian Bonah, MD, PhD lihood that this association is bour and distribution Other minor applications PHOSGENE and Professor for yeast, and they will react slowly over used to make plastics, latex paints, lids, Liquid orals, External creams and Powders, and was ISO 14001 (environ- History of Science as significantly confounded by an 
costs). Also, the im-
are dyes, esters, drying oil was one of 
modi ers, and pharmaceutical inter- and adhesives. About 12% of acetic the  rst poisonous gases used in weeks, months, or maybe years to mental responsibilities and manage- well as Nils Kessel, 
unexamined factor. pact on medical com-
mediates. form ETHYL ALCOHOL and carbon acid is converted to acetic anhydride the ghastly chemi- ment) approved in 2004 and has regu- Maître de conférenc-
modity prices started 
dioxide, as well as minor amounts of that is mostly used to make cellulose latory approvals with ANVISA Brazil, es à l’Université de The most likely reasons for later than did the im-
********************************* cal warfare during some aldehydes. Depending on pref- acetate, the white stuff in cigarette MOH Ukraine, INVIMA Columbia, NDA Strasbourg, both of the observed association are pact on other medi-World War I. It was erences, some of the nonalcoholic liters. It is also used in the manufac- Uganda, MOH Nigeria, TFDA Tanza- DHVS Département that health care delivery is pe-
PHENOL has been used for later replaced by nia, MOH Ethiopia, MCC South Afri-
cal care prices, likely 
ture of plastic sheeting and film and d’histoire des scienc-
decades in the medical  eld (and should not be 
contents can be separated by distilla- ca, MOH Congo, MOH Oman, WHO troleum dependent and that due to manufacturing es de la vie et de la 
in formulating lacquers.
confused with) the tion. – GMP. Products made at Nashik are 
its cost is sensitive to shifts in times, lengthy test-
as an antiseptic under its ali- exported to Glenmark’s emerging mar- santé in Strasbourg. 
as, carbolic acid, and at one more vicious mus- Alcoholic beverages in the United ACETIC ACID also finds use as a kets including Asia, India, Africa, Rus- Gratitude and love to 
petroleum supply. The appar- ing and delivery lags 
ent decline in the magnitude 
sia, the Commonwealth of Independent Nicolas Malivel, and and transport and time as a preservative of hu- tard gas (dichloro- States are made exclusively by the chemical intermediate in the produc- family, and Darren of effect over the two periods, shelf life factors. The 
man organs under the name diethyl sul de). fermentation process, not the pet- tion of acetate esters for paint sol- States and Russia, and Latin America. Begley, and family. 1973—1977 and 1978—1982, 
creosote (from the Greek kreos, “ Phosgene is also notorious for being 
health care system 
rochemical process. It has nothing vents and as a reaction solvent for is important to note, however. exhibits high expo-
esh,” and sogein, “to preserve”). The one of the deadly gases created from to do with the chemistry. It is due to the manufacture of terephthalic acid. This is likely because of the 
name creosote the disas- a law enacted to protect the grain Also, acetic acid is the source of the sure, moderate sus-
eventually be- trous leak growers, not the consumers. acetyl group in the manufacture of The trajectories of year-on-year inflation several non-seasonally adjusted price variables including  motor fuel, health decreasing contribution of both ceptibility, and high transport and supply costs 
came associated at a Bhopal, ACETYL SALICYLIC ACID (ASPI- care, health care services, health care commodities, prescription medications, plastics, and the consumer price index resilience to short-
with the wood India, chem- Until World War I, fermentation ac- RIN) for the years 1973—1977 and 1978—1982 show declining associations between oil and health care prices. (Hess, J., to overall health care costs. term supply shocks; 
preservative, but ical plant in counted for all the ETHYL ALCOHOL 
produced in the United States. In Bednarz, D., Bae, J., & Pierce, J. (2011). Petroleum and health care: evaluating and managing health care’s vulnerabil-
Health care is a service in- long-term shocks 
phenol remains 1984, which ity to petroleum supply shifts. American journal of public health, 101(9), 1568-1579.) There often appears to be an as- dustry, and labor costs are in- likely pose a more 
sociation between decreased petroleum supply (indicated by a rise in inflation in motor fuel prices, which covary closely creasingly dominant in its price difficult challenge. 
with petroleum supply), a rise in the price of plastics, and, lagged by several months, the prices of healthcare commodi- structure. Overall, the analy- (Hess, J., et. al 2011)
ties such as pharmaceuticals and health care as a whole.
SHIFT REGISTER
A five-ye-
ar-old waits 
outside of her formaldehy-
de-laiden home, Indiana 2011. Formaldehyde process — air 
oxidation of methanol. Petrochemicals in Nontechnical Language, D. L. Burdick 
and W. L. Leffler, 2010
When Shelter Becomes Exposure
Indoor air is routinely more polluted than the air of cor-
responding outdoor environments. This is partly be-
cause polluted outdoor air seeps inside, but the major 
contributors to poor indoor air quality are often the con-
struction materials of the built environment itself, which 
slowly off-gas a host of volatile organic compounds.
Domestic chemical ecologies have both many toxicant 
sources and many toxicant sinks. We are focusing on 
formaldehyde because it is the most common and also 
most toxicologically understood indoor air pollutant. Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde slowly and silently off gasses from engi-
neered woods, carpets, and permanent press clothing. 
Formaldehyde is an irritant, an allergen, a neurotox-
in and a known human carcinogen. Its presence in 
mammalian bodies can destroy enzymes that maintain 
bronchial tone, strip axons of their sheathing, dysreg- Binding Functions
ulate gene expression, break chromosomes, mis-fold 
proteins and create deficits in behavior, cognition, and Even the most serene home is 
learning. Neurochemists are increasingly suspecting bustling with molecular labour. 
this nearly omnipresent chemical to have a role in neu- Before we begin to fill our homes 
rodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease with the airborne residues of myr-
and multiple-sclerosis. iad commodities, the adhesives 
that hold together the plywood 
walls, particleboard subfloors, 
hardboard cabinetry and carpet 
backings of conventional western 
homes slowly exhale chemical va-
pors into interior breathing space. 
In the home, no compound does 
as much immobilizing, adhering, 
hardening, painting, lacquering, 
Flow-Chart for Products from Petroleum-based Feedstocks, 2004. National Rene- disinfecting, laminating or reinforc-
wable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency ing as formaldehyde.
and Renewable Energy. (Natural gas → CO/H2 → methanol → formaldehyde)
A man Formaldehyde is not only essen-
in a suit demonstrates the flexibility of a plywood ve-
neer in the 1950s.  tial to the building techniques propagated by industrial capitalism but also to life itself. 
In the human body, the chemical is an indis-
pensable metabolic intermediary in the bio-
synthesis of two of the four building blocks 
of DNA, some amino acids, and molecules 
that plays a role in blood pressure control 
and hormone signaling. The chemical is 
both essential and routinely destructive to 
biotic functioning.
The material paradoxes of formaldehyde abound. The 
chemical defends home construction materials from in-
sect, bacteria and fungal decay while also hastening 
the decay of human inhabitants. Ironically, this chem-
ical not only decomposes human bodies, but an aver-
age of 3.5 gallons of formaldehyde is injected into the 
veins of the dead to fend off post-mortem decompo-
sition. The compound chemically tugs Americans to-
wards death, and then ultimately defends their inani-
mate bodies from biological disintegration. The removal 
of biotic life to maintain an immaculate form.
Extractive Histories 
Formaldehyde was originally produced as a by-
product of the destructive distillation of hard-
woods, as were most chemical feedstocks at the 
turn of the 20th century. As the petroleum industry 
burgeoned into the petrochemical industry in the 
1920s and 30s, formaldehyde became exclusively 
sourced from cracked methane. Formaldehyde’s Various Uses of 
cheapness, and thus its ubiquity of use as a bind- Chemical Freshness
ing agent, is predicated on the economies and Formaldehyde
infrastructures of oil extraction and is implicated 
not only in stories of toxicant exposure, be they “I love the new car smell—why, everybody does that has 
in down- air fresheners, they smell like that ya know. And that’s - Adhesive/Binding agent
stream what it smelled like to me. And I was like, ‘YAY!! They - Solvent Rhizospheric 
products or brought us a brand spanking new one!!’ I thought they 
along the would bring us an old ratty one, ya know?” recalled a - Disinfectant Alliances 
fence line Mississippi woman who was given a rapidly built emer- - Fixative
of extrac- gency home after she was displaced by Hurricane Kat-
tion, but rina in 2005. The trailer’s appearance of newness, and - Lubricant Some of the silent for-
also in con- therefore its quality, was first observed visually but au- maldehyde emissions 
tributions thenticated by its scent. 
- Printing ink emanating from con-
to climate - Color film development struction materials waft 
change as out open windows. Oth-
methane is For many inhabitants of these homes, which were later - Bleaching agents ers are absorbed by 
a hyper-po- found to harbour elevated formaldehyde levels, the so- - Textile-sizing agent human bodies or the 
tent green- cial currency of the smell overrode the raw nature of its bodies of companion 
house gas. sensory experience. The chemical brew known as ‘the - Plastics species. Others still are 
new car smell’ imbues formaldehyde exposures with - Electronic products metabolized by decora-
pleasure, fashioning the aroma as a selling point. Borne tive indoor plants and 
out of the - Fertilizer the microbes that in-
mid 20th habit their roots, known - Biocide
century auto as the rhizosphere. In 
industry, the - Antiparasitic for animals this project we seek to 
positivity accentuate the reme-
of the ‘new - Pharmaceuticals diation capacity of this 
smell’ is now - Embalming fluid final chemical sink by 
drawn upon pulling air down across 
by consum- - Food preservative the plant and the rhizos-
ers when pheric bacteria with an 
purchasing a inexpensive aquarium 
broad range pump. Without accen-
of products tuating the air diffusion 
and serves across these micro-eco-
to occlude systems, one would 
perception need 680 potted plants 
of potentially to adequately scrub the 
Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info air of toxicants in a 140 
For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel) hazardous sq meter home.
Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are chemical ex-
February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris posures.
Edited by Nicholas Shapiro and Christophe Guérin
Designed by Merle Ibach
SHIFT REGISTER
Repair - Adhere - Heal for the first time to the general public the impact of certain toxins and residues in the ecosystem. Rachel Carson’s re- the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’, to still the song of the birds and 
search examined how one type of toxin could be ingested the leaping of fish in the streams, to coat the leaves with a 
Understanding biological materials such as proteins, fats by an insect, which was eaten by a bird. Carson’s study 
deadly film and to linger on in the soil – all this though the 
and polysaccharides is important for many reasons. Not lead her to learn that chemicals traveling from prey to 
intended target may be only a few weeds or insects,” she 
least of all they are the materials of which we are made, predator would interrupt normal biological processes. The 
wrote.
which heal, protect and make use grow; but they are also name Silent Spring come from the 1961 event that she Her book spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy, 
molecules that make it possible to trace how residues, tox- witnessed, where the impact of pesticides damaged repro- leading to a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural uses.
ins and chemicals travel through an ecosystem, even to ductive biological functions in birds, leaving a generation of 
offspring and organisms on the other side of the planet. birds unable to produce offspring. 
We can trace toxins such as DDT through an ecosystems 
as they bind within different types of animal and plant tis-
 “Sprays, dusts and aerosols are now applied almost uni- sue and how they bind to water, travel across the world via versally to farms, gardens, forests and homes – non-se- rising up to the stratosphere and infest the soil and water 
Rachel Carson’s 1962 publication Silent Spring illuminated lective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, table for generation.
Biomaterials ProteinsLife depends on polysaccharides and sug-ars, but it also depends on proteins - large 
organic molecules composed of tens, hun-
DDT molecule polysaccarides proteins and 
dreds or even thousands of amino acids 
bound together and folded into specifically 
shaped structures. Enzymatic, structural, 
and respiratory functions depend on them. 
Harris Federation Privacy and Confidentiality Notice THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF Pro-
The information, attachment and opinions contained teins 
in this message are strictly confidential and intended 
solely for the person or organisation to whom it is ad- MOLECULAR BIOLOGY are   be-hind 
dressed. It may contain privileged and confidential in- the 
formation and if you are not an intended recipient, you work-
must not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance ings of 
on it. If you have received this message in error, please every 
notify the sender as soon as possible and delete any bio-
attached files from your system. logical 
DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that is readily ad- Atrazine func-
sorbed to soils and sediments, which can Human exposure to atrazine is linked to a num- tion in 
act both as sinks and as long-term sourc- ber of serious health effects. A potent endocrine your body and the body of every animal, 
es of exposure affecting organisms. DDT disruptor, atrazine interferes with hormonal activ- bird, fish and plant on the planet. They 
is lipophilic meaning that it will bond to fat ity of animals and humans at extremely low dos- are tiny molecular machines that make 
and oil molecules in living creatures. It has 
been traced in the breast milk of mam- How DDT travels through the es.
everything from respiration and the ab-
sorption of oxygen to the very mechanics 
mals (including humans) and has been of cell replication. Without proteins there is 
found in the fat depot of humans across food chainAtrazine is the common name for an herbicide ·   Endocrine Disruption: The science on atra- no DNA!the planet. DDT bioaccumulates in pred- that is widely used to kill weeds. It is used most- zine’s effects on the hormone system continues Proteins consist of one or more polypep-atory birds and is toxic to marine animals ly on farms. Pure atrazine –an odourless, white to grow. It hormones in rats and can delay pu- tide chains, each of which is a linear poly-too. Crayfish, daphnids, sea shrimp and powder –is not very volatile, reactive, or flamma- berty. In male frogs, exposure to atrazine causes mer of amino acid residues. Twenty types many species of fish, will absorb it and a kind of “chemical castration,” causing them to of amino acid occur naturally in proteins. 
thus it enters the food chain by this route. ble. It will dissolve in water. Atrazine is made in the laboratory and does not occur naturally. develop female sex characteristics. Researchers A polypeptide can be defined simply by its Despite being banned, DDT was detected hypothesize that atrazine signals the conversion sequence of ami-
in almost all human blood samples tested of testosterone to oestrogen, demasculinizing the no acids. These 
by the Centres for Disease Control in the frogs. 20 alpha-amino 
USA 2005. While their levels have sharply 
declined since most uses were banned food tests com- ·   Reproductive Effects: Because atrazine dis-
acids each consist 
monly detect it. rupts hormones, it is not surprising that epide-
of a primary amino 
miological studies find associations between ex- group, a carboxyl 
posure to the herbicide and reproductive effects group, a hydrogen 
including increased risk of miscarriage, fertility, atom and an R 
weight, and higher incidence of abdominal de- group (side chain 
fects; that gives each amino acid its indi-
·   Cancer: Evidence for the carcinogenic poten- vidual properties). 
tial of atrazine is growing — exposure has been Amino acids are 
linked to elevated risk of breast and prostate can- linked by peptide 
The Central cer. The recent President’s Cancer Panel Report bonds to form pol-notes that atrazine has possible carcinogenic ypeptide chains.
Dogma of Mole- properties. In response to concerns, U.S. EPA is currently re-evaluating atrazine’s carcinogenic 
cular Biology potential.
“DNA makes Timing of exposure may be more important than exposure levels. Research shows that low lev-
RNA makes Pro- els of exposure during key periods of pregnancy may interfere with healthy foetal development. 
tein...”. The third trimester of pregnancy appears to be most critical, says a recent epidemiological study. 
Synergistic effects between atrazine and other 
A wide range of important in- pesticides may also render health harms more 
dustrial molecules that we severe.
use in pharmaceuticals, the Timing of exposure may be more important than 
food industry and construc- exposure 
tion only exist because they levels. 
originate from living crea- Research 
tures. A collection of these shows that pregnancy may interfere with healthy foetal devel-
molecules, which only exist low levels opment. The third trimester of pregnancy appears 
because they of expo- to be most critical, says a recent epidemiological 
are coded for sure dur- study.  Synergistic effects between atrazine and oth-
by the DNA of ing key er pesticides may also render health harms more 
living creatures periods of severe.
are explored 
briefly below: Nuclear testing research carried out by the U.S. De-partment of Energy under the Atomic Energy Com-
mission from 1946 onwards reveals the horrendous 
impact of nuclear tests carried out by the USA in 
great detail. In documents declassified under the 
Clinton administration we can learn about how radi-
oactive nuclei passed into the food supply,how mil-
itary personnel were harmed by experiments, the 
destruction of the Marshall Islands and devastation 
to its exiled inhabitants. From the Fukushima Daiichi 
nuclear disaster to Chernobyl and the bombing of 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945, we can 
and vegetable tis- trace radioactive isotopes binding to human, animal 
sue for decades 
following these 
Cellulose and polysaccharides events.One of the impacts 
of strontium 90 is 
Cellulose contains only glucose and is the that it competes with 
major polysaccharide in woody and fibrous calcium and is ab-
sorbed in the bones 
of young children. the different tissues 
Let us turn now to bi- in our bodies, but 
ology, and focus on helps us to gain in-
the nature of biolog- sight into the bioac-
ical materials. Their cumulation of toxins 
role in our bodies and their extent.
and those of other 
living creatures and Keratin
their potential appli-
cations in industry. Keratin is a fi-
This not only helps brous structural 
plants. It is the most abundant single polymer us to understand the protein found in 
in the biosphere. diverse, overlapping hair, nails, horn, roles of the biomate- hoofs, wool, 
rials that constitute feathers, and of the 
Polysaccharides more broadly referred to as epithelial cells in the 
carbohydrates. These are produced by plant outermost layers of the 
seeds, tubers, fruits and vegetables as an en- skin. Keratin serves im-
ergy source as well as for structural purposes. portant structural and 
They come in many forms, including starch protective functions, 
that can be found in corn, potatoes, rice and particularly in the epi-
grain - bread, cereal and pasta also contain thelium. Much like col-
starch. Polysaccharides such as pectin, agar lagen and chitosan, 
and chitosan can broaden our view of this As well as having potential to Chitosan is also used in the keratin is also used in 
wonderful natural group of molecules. sup- cosmetics and pharmaceutical cosmetics
port industry and extracted from 
de- the shells of marine creatures Blueberries, pears, apples, 
vel- by crushing them and dissolv- guavas, quince, plums, The diverse gooseberries, orange peel 
naturally ob- op- ing the calcium carbonate and 
ment bicarbonate that also consti- and other citrus fruits con-tained poly- tain a lot of pectin, 
saccharide in tutes 
chitosan can the these 
while softer cherries, 
grapes, and straw-
supply a broad bi- berries contain small 
range of re- amounts.
sources appli-
cable in the bi-
omedical field. omedical field it can be used 
It can be found to create biodegradable plas- Pectin
in marine crea- tics (bioplastics) and with over 
tures such as crabs and shrimp. 400 millions tonnes of waste 
from the food and fishing in- This has jellifying properties, as 
dustry, it seems a shame to does agar which is found in sea-
waste this wonderous materi- weed and algae. Making bioplas-
al. tics from agar and algae more shelly structures in hy- generally hold much promise for 
drochloric acid. sustainability… and of course, other bio-molecules also include gelatin, collagen 
and other proteins.
Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info
For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are 
February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris 
Edited by Jennifer Crouch
Designed by Merle Ibach
S H I F T  R E G I S T E R
Biomaterials PROTEIN STRUCTURE peptides, and a  R-groups in their amino acids must be sequenced properly in order for DNA makes RNA makes Protein - BACKGROUND primary structure them to fold in the correct final struc-There are four levels of protein ture, as it is the proteins structure CONNECTS US TOGETHERis simply the linear sequence of ami- that makes it function properly and 
polysaccarides proteins and THE CENTRAL DOGMA structure: the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure. no acids. There are just twenty ami- carry out its role without damaging RNA is a single stranded molecule similar to DNA with A polypeptide is a polymer of ami- no acids but by varying the number the organism. some key differences. It contains ribose as part of its 
OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY no acids linked together by peptide 
and order of these amino acids, has 
bonds. Each amino acid is termed a the possibility to generate a vast Triose phosphate isomerase is a 
sugar backbone and contains uracil instead of thymine. 
protein found in both prokaryotic and RNA is necessary in protein synthesis. residue and all amino acids have the number of different polypeptides and 
same basic structure. Amino acids resulting proteins. eukaryotic cells. According to UN- A piece of Messenger RNA (mRNA) must be copied – or 
are individual molecules consisting IPROT, it is an enzyme that is ‘in- transcribed – from DNA, in order to make proteins. The 
of carbon atoms bonded with car- Proteins fulfil a number of functions volved in the pathway gluconeogen- information held by the mRNA is encoded in its nucleo-
boxyl (COOH) and amino functional in the cell including: catalysis; de- esis, which is part of Carbohydrate tides.fence; transport (i.e. haemoglobin biosynthesis’. This subpathway is 
Tertiary structures groups (NH2), as well as a hydrogen transporting oxygen; support (ac- part of the pathway glycolysis, which More precisely, each group of three nucleotides (called a 
Tertiary structures are the level of structure atom bonded to one of the carbon Collagen atoms in the molecule. tin fibres; motion; regulation (hor- is itself part of Carbohydrate degra-
codon) is used to construct each amino acid needed to 
created when further hydrogen bond inter- mones) and dation. Its primary structure will influ- make a specific protein. An mRNA molecule begins with 
actions cause the secondary structures to Collagen is a ubiquitous pro- Amino acids also contain energy stor- ence how its secondary and subse- a 5 prime non-reading end (made of five nucleotides) 
folds and twist upon themselves resulting in tein. It is an important com- a variable group that is known as the 5’ untranslated re- gion 
complex three-dimensional forms. ponent of connective tissue, termed the R group. The R 
age. The quent structures are folded. (UTR). This is followed by a spe- cial 
skin, bone, cartilage, and ten- group provides each ami- sequence of nucleotides which bind to 
dons and is the single most no acid its characteristic Secondary structure the ribosome.abundant protein in the ani- chemical properties. A pro-tein is one or more poly- Secondary structure refers to the way in which This binding section is next (read- ing primary structures fold over themselves. The linearly from left to right), and is 
form that the secondary structure of a linear pol- called the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) se-
ypeptide sequence will take is primarily depend- quence. The SD section if fol-
ant on hydrogen bonds although other intramo- lowed by another non coding Process of Translation
The form with helix-turn-helix motifs, lecular interactions also play a role. Secondary region which is followed by the DNA Polymerase is also an 
of a tertiary structure depends on containing both alpha-helices structures can be understood as being deter- start codon – commonly with the important protein in the pro-
‘distant group interaction’ between the R-groups of the and beta sheets. of this family contains both mined by ‘backbone interactions’ and may result in indicator nucleotide sequence of cess as it unzips the DNA 
amino acids in the primary structure. Again the hydro- AUG – which always codes for molecule in order for the Proteins with a similar struc- alpha any number of folded forms or motifs. In an alpha 
gen bonds are responsible for stabilising the tertiary ture resulting from a com- helices helix for instance the polypeptide will twist into a methionine, until it reaches the mRNA to copy the appropri-
structure although other bonds such as hydrophobic and coil that is stabilised by hydrogen bonds acting be- stop codon (usually UAA, UAG or ate sequence of nucleotides mon ancestor are called 
packing, Van Der Waals forces and disulphide bridg- mal kingdom. beta tween each coil – the resulting from is that of a spi- UGA) which is followed by another in the first place. This ena- homologous. The human 
es also play a role in the resulting shape of a protein’s pleats. ral staircase. non-coding region. mRNA resem-
tertiary structure. A tertiary structure’s form will be par- Its biological function is to 
bles the process of transcrip- cyclophilin family is one ex- bles a sequence of nucleotides, 
provide support, structure and tion to occur. DNA Polymer- ample of such a family group tially dependant on the environment in which it usually much like the primary structure of a protein (polypeptide) 
forms, for example in water (which is polar) all the po- flexibility to living creatures, 
ase is a DNA-binding protein of proteins. The structure this structure allows it to be read 
lar molecules of the protein will interact with the polar organs, Another secondary and transcribed by the ribo- some, 
H2O molecules, creating a non-polar internal space, bone and muscles. structure motif is a 
as it must slide between the two 
this is what hydrophobic packing entails. Disulphide beta pleated sheet that component molecules of the ribo-
bridges happen only between cysteines – amino acids looks much like a zig- some to be useful.
with a thiol side chain that contains sulphur – and are zag whereby the point of Protein synthesis is called trans-
essentially covalent bonds between the sulphur groups It is also very re- The Central Dogma of Molecular each zigzag is stabilised lation. Protein translation takes place resulting from oxidation.  Because of the oxidizing en- flective by a hydrogen bond. within an organelle in our cells called 
vironment necessary for the formation of disulphide and has Biology the ribosome, which can be found 
bridges they tend to form in interes- in the cell cytoplasm and rough endo-
extracellular space. ting op-tical pro- The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology is “DNA plasmic reticulum. The mRNA runs 
perties makes RNA makes Protein...”. RNA is short for through the ribosome, as it does the ribosome fills in the 
Ribonucleic acid, RNA is a polymeric molecule corresponding nucleic acids in the 
essential in various biological roles in coding, de- If the resulting motif is such correct sequence. The ribo- some 
coding, regulation, and expression of genes. RNA that the amino ends and the itself is made from two mo- lecular The quater- The crimped pattern of collagen fibrils re- has a ribose sugar in its chain of molecules while sults in interesting carboxyl ends of the pleated 
components, and the mRNA must 
optical properties. in DNA a deoxyribose sugar exists in the polymer. sheet are lined up, then it is 
run between these two mo- lecular 
nary structure RNA nucleotides have a uracil base instead of thy- described as parallel pleat- components to be translated.
The quaternary mine (see R-groups above). ed sheets. An alternative manifes- These are referred to as sub- units, 
structure of a protein The process by which an RNA sequence comple- tation of a beta sheet is an an- called the large subunit and small describes the bond-
ing between multiple The crimped pattern of colla- mentary to the DNA sequence of the gene to be 
ti-parallel beta sheet where by subunit. They are each com- posed 
gen fibrils, showing their reflec- the zigzagging pattern of linear of Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and proteins, which are both 
polypeptides. tive optical properties expressed is synthesised is termed transcription; the process by which a protein is synthesised, with amino acids folds over itself, re- structured to form each subunit. The ribosome subu-
The same interac- its sequence determined by the RNA sequence, sulting in amides lining up with nits usually exist separately in the cytoplasm. Once the 
tions of hydrogen, is termed translation. Besides the protein-coding carboxyls, and alternating in smaller subunit finds, and binds to a specific 
Van Der Waals, hy- genes, there are also sequences in the human ge- how the carboxyls and amines site on the mRNA (the start codon) then the 
drophobic packing nome (as in all genomes) that are transcribed into line up as illustrated in the im- large subunit is toed in and forms the com-
and disulphide bridg- Collagen is functional RNA molecules, and these are some-
age below plete ribosome.
es are involved in produced times termed RNA genes. Without proteins in the In order to get the necessary amino acids to the formation of the in our cells. first place however these is not DNA. carry out translation the ribosome needs a protein called quaternary structure. The skin is Transfer RNA (tRNA), which brings (or transfers) the dif-Within the resolved the largest ferent amino acids to the ribosome. The tRNA is much protein, each indi- organ of the hu- smaller than the ribosome and has a clover-like struc-vidual polypeptide is man body and ture. If you imagine a clover shape, with three leaves called a subunit. If 
there are two subu- plays a major 
and a stem, and imagine that there are three nucleotides 
role in maintain- along the edge of the leaf in the middle of the clover. nits interacting then These three nucleotides that are found at this point in 
you have a quater- ing homeosta- Inflammation is one 
nary structure called sis and protec- of many biological re-
the tRNA structure are what deter-
The example above is of tion. As the main mines the amino acid is has to col-a dimer. For three dense irregular collagenous sponses within the 
subunits the term ‘tri- connective tissue in skin from component of body’s tissues to 
lect. 
mer’ is used, for you a pig. The dark purple U-sha- skin, animal cells harmful stimuli, pro- This part of tRNA’s structure is 
tetramer and more ped band at the top of the field produce many tecting us from patho- called the anticodon. The anti-
that four produc- is the epithelium of the skin, different kinds gens, damaged cells codon will collect an amino acid, and the rest is the connective 
es a multimer. The tissue. Connective tissues as of collagen, re- and irritants. Inflam- made from the complementary se-
term for a complete- a group of tissues categorical- sulting in larger mation appears to be quence of nucleotides, which is the 
ly, properly folded ly have protective or supporti- scale structures connected to a wide codon. So UUU (which happens to 
protein is the prop- ve functions. that resemble long rope-like structures and tough 
polarized light microscopy 
(PLM) image showing collagen range of chronic dis- codes for phenylalanine) will in 
er confirmation of a sheets. These are used for structural support. fiber architecture of posterior eases such as heart fact collect AAA (lysine) and bring it 
protein. Triose phos- pole and optic nerve. disease, cancer, dia- to the ribosome to build into a 
phate isomerase, is Collagen’s role in wound he- betes, obesity, aller- required protein, as requested by 
a dimer – or dimeric aling is fascinating and it also gies, asthma and ar- the mRNA. Other proteins and en-
enzyme. The word has a role in the bodies other thritis. Some of these ailments can be called zymes are involved throughout the 
dimer refers to the defense processes. Inflamma-tion plays a role in collagen de- autoimmune conditions, whereby the immune entire process, one example is ami-
two subunits present gradation to prevent the toug- system responds inappropriately to stimuli, noacyl-tRNA synthetases, which 
in the enzyme. Hae- hening of tissue. and results in the body attacking its own tis- consists of an amino acid 
moglobin on the oth- Scanning Electron Micros- sues. It is s an ongoing internal barrel that is which makes us of a high en- ergy 
er hand is a quater- copy (SEM) of a fibrin-col- Proteins are formed by chains of nu- directly related to either an external irritant or ester bond to bind to the 3′-hy-
nary structure. lagen blend hydrogel. The cleotides which as they are formed an epigenetic malfunction. droxyl group of a tRNA mole- cule.aqueous part of the hydrogel is evaporated after critical 
point drying and fibrillar structures of fibrin and collagen fold and twist into different and more A variety of diseas- The process of translation is made 
is left behind. The random architecture of the hydrogel complex three dimensional forms. es that are charac- up of different steps. First in- itia-
is clearly visible. Some of the shapes proteins can 
take as they form are helices and (A)Anti-parallel  (B) Parallel
terized by fibrosis tion: where the SD section of the 
share common mRNA is detected by the ribo- some, Research team from Purdue Univer-
sity-based startup GeniPhys led by folded sheets and the basic structural Triose phosphate isomerase features including and read until it gets to the start codon AUG. At this point 
Associate Professor Sherry Harbin is unit of collagen is a triple helix. From contains both beta-pleated the proliferation of a tRNA molecule will bring (transfer) the amino acid UAC 
commercialising a synthetic collagen the microscopic view of the helix to sheets and alpha-helices. fibroblasts and the (formyl-etheline in eukaryotes) to the ribosome. The sec-
polymer known as Collymers. It exhi- macroscopic structure of collagen fi- ond phase is called elongation: where the mRNA, ribo-
bits uncommon self-assembly proper- deposition of ex-
ties not seen in conventional collagen. These bres, its mechanical properties make cess collagen in some and tRNA start to build the polypeptides. The final 
collagens work in a similar way as those in the it strong and flexible and during the the extracellular phase is termination where the end codon goes through 
body’s tissues – they polymerise to form fibrils. wound-healing process, collagen fibres matrix of our cells. the ribosome.
As such, they can be used to customise 3D with grow across a wound and begin to Published by Shift Register – www.shiftregister.info
collagen-fibril matrices and materials for cell For the workshop The Eye Altering (cur. Garance Malivel)
and tissue research, in vitro drug discovery stabilise. Within the event We Are Not the Number We Think We Are 
and toxicity testing as well as 3D bioprinting. February 2–3, 2018, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris Edited by Jennifer Crouch
Designed by Merle Ibach
SHIFT REGISTER