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biologyIsCPH4fromsciencefictionmovie'Lucy'real?SkepticsStackExchange

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IsCPH4fromsciencefictionmovie'Lucy'real?
InthesciencefictionfilmLucy,thetitularcharactertakesadrugcalledCPH4thatincreasesherbraincapacity.
Thewriteranddirectorofthefilm,LucBesson,claimsinseveralinterviewsthatthisdrugisbasedonarealchemicalcompound.
InterviewfromCraveOnline:
Q:TellmeaboutthedrugthatmakesLucysuperhuman.Isthatbasedonanythingrealoristhatentirelyafiction?
A:Itstotallyreal.Itsnotarealname.CPH4isanamethatIinvented,butitsamoleculethatthepregnantwomanismakingitaftersix
weeksofpregnancyinvery,verytinyquantities.Butitstotallyreal,anditstruethatthepowerofthisproductforababyisthepowerof
anatomicbomb.Itsreal.Itstotallyreal.Soitsnotadruginfact,itsanaturalmoleculethatpregnantwomenproduce.
InterviewfromVulture:
Q:Somepeoplearecomplainingaboutthefactthatthesciencebehindyourfilmthewholeideathathumansonlyuse10percentof
theirbrainsisnottrue.Whatsyourresponsetothat?
A:Itstotallynottrue.DotheythinkthatIdontknowthis?IworkonthisthingfornineyearsandtheythinkthatIdontknowitsnottrue?
OfcourseIknowitsnottrue!But,youknow,therearelotsoffactsinthefilmthataretotallyright.TheCPH4,evenifitsnotthereal
namebecauseIwanttohidetherealnamethismoleculeexistsandiscarriedbythewomanatsixweeksofpregnancy.[]
So,doesasimilarchemicalcompoundactuallyexist?Whatisitcalled?Whatdoesitdo?
[medicalscience] [biology] [chemistry] [drugs]
editedOct30'14at1:35

rjzii
10.4k

askedAug11'14at11:06

46

72

svick
254

2 Isuspecthe'snotreferringtohCG,sincethatjustkeepsbuilding,ratherthanjustbeingatinyamount.Bobson
Aug11'14at18:15

1 didtheyevershowastructureforthemolecule?Ifweallhaveisafakenamewecan'tsaymuch.Embryo
developmentisverycomplexandlotsofcompoundsaremadeatvarioustimestocoordinatethatdevelopment.
Arethereimportantmoleculesthatstarttobesynthesizedatabout6weeksintothepregnancy?Thereare
probablyseveralofthem.Thereisnoneedtokeeptheidentityofthemoleculesecreteither,IdoubtLucBesson
discoveredthismolecule,it'sprobablyintheliteratureanyway.Untilhegivesasourceforhisclaimabout"CPH4"I
wouldn'ttrusthimatall.user137Aug13'14at0:23

@user137Idon'tthinktheyshowedthemoleculeinthefilm. svick Aug13'14at13:40

AlthoughIrespectthedirectoralot,Idon'tthinkwhathesaidistrueatall.Ifsuchmoleculeexists,thenhowcome
it'snottalkedaboutnorknowninbiology.And,what'sthepurposeofhidingitsrealnameanyway?
georgechalhoubAug13'14at15:48

4 @georgechalhoubMyguessisthatifit'sactuallyreal,thenhe'shidingthename,becausewhatthemolecule
actuallydoesisboringandnotthatbigofadeal. svick Aug13'14at15:50

2Answers
There'sagroupofmoleculecalledProtocadherin2(Pcad2)that
becomevisiblealongthenervefiberinthebrainstematthe8thweek,andspreadoverthe
entirebrainatthe11thweek.Atthe18thweek,however,expressioninthenervefascicles,
whichhadbeenvisiblebythattime,wasnolongervisibleorhaddecreased.Theseresults
suggestthatPcad2appearsrelativelyearlyinthecriticalstageofdevelopmentofthefetalCNS
[centralnervoussystem],andisinvolvedintheinduction,fasciculation,andextensionofaxons.
ThismightexplainthepartwhereLucydescribedsomethingalongthelinesofcellstalkingtoeach

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biologyIsCPH4fromsciencefictionmovie'Lucy'real?SkepticsStackExchange

other,formingcommunitiesthatinteractwitheachother.
Source:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15327484/
Axonmeaning:http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axon
editedAug23'14at19:32

answeredAug23'14at19:22

Vin
69

1 Itwouldbenicetoaddanotethatthismoleculedoesnothavetheeffectthatisportrayedinthemovie(exceptfor
vaguestatementslike"it'sathingthatdoessomethingonaxons",whichwouldholdforgenericneurotransmitters
too).Theformingofthebrainiscomplex,formingaxonsiscertainlynecessary,butthereisnoproofthatincreasing
thenumberofaxonsincreasesevenbasicintelligence(letaloneunlocksuperpowers).Youranswerusesgood
researchtohelpsupportshortsightedfantasy.SporkOct30'14at14:46

CAUTION:Ibelievethisisapublicitystatementbythedirector,notbasedinfact.Thedrugcan'tbe
knownuntilhespecifiesit.
PointstoConsider
Thesixthweekistimewhenthebrainisstartedforming.Inotherwordstheglobofcells
startedformingbrainandheartlikeorgans.Cerebralcortexisformedandsynapsesstarts
connecting.
Ifsuchkindofchemicalactuallyexists,whatitwillbe?Itcouldbeasubstratewhichbind
anyoftheenzymewhichhelpsinbraindevelopmentormaybetheenzymeitself(in
bothcasestheenzymeisimportant)
Nowtherealproblem,therearetonsofenzymeswhichbinds100timesmoresubstrates,
whichistheone?

MyGuess:Whynottheonewithhighestproductionandahighactivity?

Estradioloritsderivative:
ItisafemalesteroidhormoneinthefamilyofEstrogen.Itnotonlyinfluencethesexintheembryoit
alsohelpsinneuraldevelopmentandNeuroprotection.EstradiolandtheDevelopingBrain,by
MARGARETM.McCARTHY,AmericanPhysiologicalSociety,2008
The2005publishedpaper,Lowdoseestradiolaltersbrainactivity.,suggestthatthelowdoseof
thisdrugcanactuallyalterthebrainactivityinadult.
PaperpublishedinTheJournalofNeuroscience,Estrogen,Menopause,andtheAgingBrain:How
BasicNeuroscienceCanInformHormoneTherapyinWomen,supportsthetheorythatitcanhave
aeffectonmentalage.

PS:It'snottheonlypossibilitynoristhecorrectcompound.Butitisoneofthemanypossibility.
Otherpossibilities:
SubstratesofFructose1,6bisphosphatasecanactuallyhaveeffectonbrainactivity.
SubstratesofFMRP(fragileXmentalretardationprotein)
Source:
1. TheBasicsofBrainDevelopment
2. Fructose1,6bisphosphataseinhumanfetalbrainandliverduringdevelopment
editedAug26'14at4:16

answeredAug13'14at13:39

DevashishDas
560
4
16

Iwouldexpectsomethingmorepregnancyspecific. svick Aug13'14at13:58

1 WelcometoSkeptics.Ifeitheroftheseanswersactuallyhadanyeffectapproachingtheclaim,Iwouldacceptthem
asplausibleanswers,butyouhaven'tshownthat.Oddthinking Aug13'14at14:57

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1 @DevashishDaswhatyouneedtodo,Ithink,istofocusontheevidencethatisrelevanttotheactualquestion.For
example,showthattherearesignificantchemicalsthatdoinfluencefoetalbrainsbutalsoaddresswhyandhow
theycouldimpactadultbrainsand,perhapsmostimportantly,whyiftheyarecommon(likeestradiol)wehaven't
noticedtheeffectbeforenow.matt_blackAug13'14at15:00

1 @DevashishDasMuchbetter.ThoughIwouldaddmoreconsiderationofthemagnitudeofanyadulteffectsofthe
potentialcandidates.matt_blackAug14'14at14:50

1 1)estradiolisnotaproteinbutasteroidhormone.2)estradiolisfarfrombeingtheonlypregnancyrelated
substanceinfluencingbraindevelopment.Whataboutcortisol,prolactin,oxytocin,placentallactogen,vasopressin,
progesterone,etc.etc.etc.?nicoAug25'14at16:36

protectedbyCommunity Aug25'14at15:43
Thankyouforyourinterestinthisquestion.Becauseithasattractedlowqualityanswers,postingananswernowrequires
10reputationonthissite.
Wouldyouliketoansweroneoftheseunansweredquestionsinstead?

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