Transport Proteins on Strike

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Newsflash!

Transport Proteins on Strike!

by

Dianne W. York

Biology Department, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania

The Cast

PHIL LIPID, news anchor

CHLOE ESTEROL, reporter

PHOSPHOLIPIDS, workers at the Plasma Membrane

POLLY PEPTIDE, president of the TPWU

H2O, molecule

CO2, molecule

O2, molecule

GLUCOSE, molecule

AMINO ACID, molecule

PROFESSOR CY TOSOL, professor at Cell University

GENE NOME, spokesperson for The Cell

NARRATOR: The good molecules of The Cell have been on edge for days. The Cell has always been a vibrant place

to live and work. But that is all in jeopardy now due to a threatened walkout by the Transport Protein Workers

Union (TPWU), which has been unable to secure a satisfactory contract from the Cellular Membrane Transportation

Authority, more commonly known as CEMTA (pronounced SEM-tah). CEMTA oversees all business at the Plasma

Membrane, which forms the outer border of The Cell. The Plasma Membrane incessantly bustles with the activity of

molecules entering and leaving The Cell. Much of that activity is critical, and it is not known how severely a strike by

the TPWU will affect life at The Cell. Many molecules are tuned in to their local TV news stations, desperate to hear

the latest, when the following breaking news report interrupts the regularly scheduled program.

(On TV)

PHIL LIPID: Good morning. This is PHIL LIPID in the newsroom at Channel Two Organic News with a LIVE

Special Report. The Transport Protein Workers Union, or TPWU, has just held a press conference where they

announced that they will strike as of midnight tonight. Negotiations between the TPWU and CEMTA have broken

down and no new talks are scheduled at this time. CHLOE ESTEROL is standing by at the Plasma Membrane.

CHLOE, what’s the latest?

CHLOE ESTEROL: Good morning, PHIL. Talks with the TPWU have indeed broken down as of 10am this

morning. Those talks were reportedly marked at times by...