Second Follow-Up to “How to Easily Memorize the Chart for All 22 Amino Acids, including the Three-letter and One-Letter Symbols, and All Nine “Essential” Ones, with My Pentasyllables Method.”
A supplemental pentasyllables-based mnemonic to speed recall of the three-letter symbols of the 22 amino acids.
Although my original mnemonic (https://medium.com/@bartshmatthew/how-to-easily-memorize-the-chart-for-all-22-amino-acids-including-the-three-letter-and-one-letter-3cd8f043e996) for the 22 proteinogenic amino acids *does* allow recall of the three-letter symbols, it is not a quick process. It’s a bit like a process of deduction. It works, but it takes time.
Given the central importance of the three-letter symbols for the proteinogenic amino acids, I’ve devised another mnemonic that turbocharges their recall. It dovetails nicely with the original mnemonic (AVILM FYW Ile Trp, stag STNQ Asn Gln, CUGP Sec Pyl O, ahl RHK ag DE done) because it is based on the same chart (with the addition of Pyl to the “special cases” section as explained in the original article and in the first follow up to it.)
Here’s the chart again:
Here’s the supplemental mnemonic:
“Ala Val Ile Leu” pronounced, and thought of as, “Allah Val Isle Loo”. Allah means “God” in Arabic, and “loo” rhymes with “flew” and means “love” in Scots.
“Met Phe Tyr Trp done” pronounced “Met fair tire turp. Done”. “Done” is added only to make it a pentasyllable).
“Ser Thr Asn Gln” pronounced “Sir thruh ass’n guln”. It has five syllables because “ass’n”, meaning “assing”, is two syllables.
“Cys Sec Gly Pro Pyl” pronounced “Sis sec gly propyl”. GLY means “God loves you.
“Arg His Lys Asp Glu” pronounced “Arrgh! His lyse asp glue!” To lyse a cell is to break down its membrane thus compromising its integrity, that is, to burst it.
