Melissa: 00:00

As we move into the holiday season, there's gonna be lots of food, lots of tasty things cooking in your kitchen, and a lot of them start with the same base, which is onions.

Jam: 00:11

Mhmm. So many good things.

Melissa: 00:13

So many good things start with onions, but One bad thing that starts with onions is crying. Mhmm. And this is one of my favorite episodes of all time that we've done. And to get in the holiday food eating spirit, we're going to share this episode with you again.

Jam: 00:30

Yes. We We're so surprised we had never rebroadcasted our onions episode.

Melissa: 00:34

Because it's one of our favorites.

Jam: 00:36

One of our

Jam: 00:36

favorites, why do I need to think you cry, is literally the first one I I use it as an example when I explain to somebody what the podcast is about and what we do.

Melissa: 00:44

Absolutely.

Jam: 00:45

And we have not rebroadcasted it. So if you've never heard this episode before Or it's been a long time since you've heard it because it was 2019 Yeah. When we released this one. You're really gonna enjoy this one, or you're gonna reenjoy it if you hadn't heard it in a while. So fun.

Jam: 00:59

So enjoy and, be fascinated by the reasons why onions make you cry.

Melissa: 01:05

And if you've heard this 1 a 1000000 times and you know exactly what we're gonna say, then you can go to our Patreon, or you can go to Apple Podcasts and get subscribe to get our special secret community podcast episodes where we talk about non chemistry fun things in our lives. Mhmm. Alright. Well, we hope you enjoy.

Jam: 01:24

Happy listening.

Melissa: 01:25

Happy listening. Hey. I'm Melissa.

Jam: 01:37

I'm Jam.

Melissa: 01:38

And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.

Jam: 01:43

The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.

Melissa: 01:47

Okay, Jim. Halloween is over.

Jam: 01:49

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 01:50

You're in New Zealand right now?

Jam: 01:51

Yep. Sort of.

Melissa: 01:53

Well, when the listeners are listening to this year in New Zealand.

Jam: 01:56

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Melissa: 01:57

But while we're recording this, you're here.

Jam: 01:59

Yeah. In the United States. Yes.

Melissa: 02:02

In the United States of America. So as Thanksgiving is coming, I decided to take up a whole episode to answer a very thanksgiving y question in my opinion.

Jam: 02:15

A question from a listener? Mhmm. Oh, nice.

Melissa: 02:18

And I thought it'd be perfect for Thanksgiving.

Jam: 02:20

Great. I'm I'm into it. I love Thanksgiving. I love questions. Love listeners.

Melissa: 02:25

So it

Jam: 02:25

sounds like a perfect combo.

Melissa: 02:27

Well, the question is from Ryan b, and he asked, why do onions make you cry?

Jam: 02:34

Oh, nice.

Melissa: 02:35

Yeah. I was like, oh, that's exciting. That's a great question, Dane. Yeah. So I'm gonna answer the very basic chemistry of onions.

Jam: 02:46

Okay.

Melissa: 02:46

And why onions make you cry? And then we're gonna get into it a little bit more. And I'm excited about that because it's actually fascinating.

Jam: 02:54

Okay. I'm ready. I'm I'm very ready. That sounds awesome.

Melissa: 02:57

I think it's gonna be good. And and there are a lot of papers on it. Mhmm. So you're

Jam: 03:01

saying we're gonna start kind of on this outer sort of onion skin kinda layer?

Melissa: 03:06

No. I didn't. And then

Jam: 03:07

after we and then after we do that, we're gonna go Until, like, the next layer of onion. Almost all the way to the core from right then.

Melissa: 03:15

Oh, damn. Yep. That's what we're gonna do.

Jam: 03:17

Okay. Is that what it's called the onion core?

Melissa: 03:19

I've really known that. Weird. Part?

Jam: 03:22

So that's what you call it if you actually just ate an onion raw, like an apple, Applescore.

Melissa: 03:26

Oh gosh. Okay. Well so we're gonna do that, and then you're gonna tell me back everything you learned.

Jam: 03:33

Amen.

Melissa: 03:34

That was the end for today. Okay. The very basics.

Jam: 03:37

Okay.

Melissa: 03:38

Do you know anything about why onions make you cry?

Jam: 03:40

I have zero idea. I mean, like, I've experienced it many times. I also am a little convinced that because I have glasses you also have glasses?

Melissa: 03:49

Mhmm.

Jam: 03:49

I'm convinced that whatever it is Kinda gets trapped behind my glasses, and then it's actually worse for people with glasses.

Melissa: 03:56

Well, I don't know about with glasses. Uh-huh. But with contacts, that actually You're not supposed to wear contacts in chemistry lovers because vapers can get trapped under the lenses and be held onto your eyeballs. So that's actually why I wear glasses.

Jam: 04:12

Being glasses are definitely cooler.

Melissa: 04:15

I don't know that you can objectively say that. We only say accurate statements on chemistry free for your life, and I don't know that glasses quote, glasses are cooler, end quote, has been proven.

Jam: 04:26

I think As the nonscientist, I can speculate, and I don't have, like, some code to stick down.

Melissa: 04:31

Okay. Well, I'm gonna correct you because that's my job as a scientist. Okay. So the very basic answer about onions

Jam: 04:40

Okay.

Melissa: 04:41

It's very basic, is simply that onions release a compound into the air. Mhmm. That compound irritates our eyes, and then our eyes water water to dilute the irritant and try to wash it away from our eyes.

Jam: 04:55

Mhmm.

Melissa: 04:56

That's how our eyes always work. Nothing too exciting.

Jam: 05:00

Okay. So it doesn't matter if it's onion specific irritant. Our eyes are gonna kinda want to, if possible.

Melissa: 05:06

Yes.

Jam: 05:07

Have some tiers to dilute whatever's going on.

Melissa: 05:09

That's one of the main function of tiers, I believe. If any biologists want to write in and or call in or whatever and give us some information, that would be excellent. But I believe one of the top main functions of tears is to remove irritants from your eyes.

Jam: 05:27

Interesting.

Melissa: 05:30

But Here's where this gets a little crazy. That's the basics. That's all that there is.

Jam: 05:35

It releases a compound. Mhmm. You cut it open. With a fresh onion, that it's, like, a big part of it? It's gotta be fresh?

Melissa: 05:42

Mhmm.

Jam: 05:42

And

Melissa: 05:43

Oh, I don't know if it has to be fresh.

Jam: 05:44

You cut it, and it releases a compound.

Melissa: 05:46

That's it. Okay. That's the basics. But where it gets a little crazy is Uh-huh. That compound that it releases is not in onions.

Jam: 05:58

What?

Melissa: 05:59

Dun dun dun.

Jam: 06:02

Okay. So the government puts it in there?

Melissa: 06:05

No. Actually, the onion creates those compounds as a defense mechanism.

Jam: 06:14

Woah. The onion is defending itself even after it's not, like, part of the it's not connected to the plant anymore or whatever?

Melissa: 06:22

I think the function serves too if it's still growing Mhmm. And the onion gets damaged by a predator, something trying to eat it.

Jam: 06:31

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 06:33

Those will be released and ward away the predator, and then it could keep growing.

Jam: 06:37

Oh my gosh. That is so crazy.

Melissa: 06:39

That's speculation.

Jam: 06:40

Right.

Melissa: 06:41

But

Jam: 06:41

But it is something that only are you saying that it only happens once the like, It's damaged or, like, in our

Melissa: 06:48

case Yes.

Jam: 06:49

Cut?

Melissa: 06:50

Yes. Because have you ever noticed your eyes don't water when you're buying onions at the store. I

Jam: 06:54

mean, that's totally true. Yeah. You're just like just it's totally low risk just to hold or carry or pick or whatever. Onions. Mhmm.

Jam: 07:03

Man.

Melissa: 07:04

So my roommate was cutting onions the other day, and our whole house, there was no place we could go and escape Uh-huh. Because Everywhere had the eye water problem. But if you carry an onion through the house, that would never happen.

Jam: 07:19

That's so true. Yeah. No one's like, get that out

Melissa: 07:21

of here. Mhmm.

Jam: 07:22

Like, what

Melissa: 07:23

are you doing walking around that onion? And that is because the compound doesn't exist until Mhmm. The cells in the onion are damaged.

Jam: 07:35

Man, that is nuts. I did not realize how, like, Sophisticated onions were.

Melissa: 07:41

I know.

Jam: 07:42

That's crazy.

Melissa: 07:43

Okay. So that's the basics. That's the basics of what happens to an onion.

Jam: 07:49

So onions on their own, totally fine. Mhmm.

Melissa: 07:52

If you

Jam: 07:52

just still have it as a whole onion, not gonna cause any issues. Mhmm. When you start to cut it or if in the wild some animal is starting to eat it Mhmm. At that point, some Thing.

Melissa: 08:08

Compound? Mhmm. Yeah. Compound is a basically, a term for a chemical

Jam: 08:13

Yeah.

Melissa: 08:13

Structure or a chemical.

Jam: 08:16

Gets created or released or something Mhmm. When that happens.

Melissa: 08:20

Mhmm.

Jam: 08:20

And that Is whatever that thing is, whatever that compound is, it irritates our eyes.

Melissa: 08:27

Right. And when it irritates your eyes, your eyes water. Biologists, you can tell us all about it.

Jam: 08:32

Yeah.

Melissa: 08:33

And they water to dilute the air, and then take it out.

Jam: 08:36

Yeah. And even if even if our eyes didn't water, it's already irritating enough. Like, it's enough to be, like, you know

Melissa: 08:41

Yes.

Jam: 08:42

Annoyed by.

Melissa: 08:43

Now I'm gonna tell you why it's that.

Jam: 08:45

Okay. Excellent. I'm ready.

Melissa: 08:47

Okay. So this is the very basics. You've got the very basics of onions. Mhmm. Now I'm gonna dig in to the more complex side of things.

Jam: 08:59

Okay.

Melissa: 09:00

Okay. The process by which the thing is formed that irritates your eyes is pretty complex.

Jam: 09:07

Okay.

Melissa: 09:08

And I don't think it would be fun, and I don't think it would be worth it to dig into that reaction.

Jam: 09:13

Okay.

Melissa: 09:13

But I am gonna tell you a quick overview of it. Okay. So that compound doesn't exist. A precursor exists.

Jam: 09:20

Okay.

Melissa: 09:22

And there was a known enzyme that was present in that is present in onions and garlic both.

Jam: 09:28

Okay.

Melissa: 09:29

Do you know what an enzyme is?

Jam: 09:33

It's one of those words that's really familiar From back in the day from AP biology, senior year of high school. And

Melissa: 09:44

When were you a senior in high school?

Jam: 09:46

2010.

Melissa: 09:46

So good old 9 years ago.

Jam: 09:48

Yeah. I'm very sorry, missus Wise. I here's my guess.

Melissa: 09:52

Okay. It's a

Jam: 09:53

a thing in our case, we're talking about the human body a lot. So

Melissa: 09:56

Mhmm.

Jam: 09:57

The thing that does something in the body.

Melissa: 10:01

That's true. It doesn't just do it in the body.

Jam: 10:04

K.

Melissa: 10:05

It exists in onions too, which are not bodies. They're just veggies.

Jam: 10:09

True. But they are alive.

Melissa: 10:10

Yeah. But there are bodies.

Jam: 10:12

Right.

Melissa: 10:13

So a good way to describe an enzyme is it helps facilitate a reaction.

Jam: 10:18

Mhmm.

Melissa: 10:18

So, usually, it has a site that fits like a puzzle piece into whatever reaction is trying to facilitate, the precursor for that reaction. Mhmm. It'll fit into that enzyme. Usually, another compound will too, and then a product is formed.

Jam: 10:35

Okay.

Melissa: 10:36

That's a really basic overview of an enzyme. It just helps facilitate a reaction.

Jam: 10:41

Okay.

Melissa: 10:42

So you've got an enzyme in an onion. It was also in garlic.

Jam: 10:48

Mhmm.

Melissa: 10:48

It was known. And then you have this precursor to the thing that hurts our eyes.

Jam: 10:53

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 10:54

So they assume the precursor was coming in to that enzyme, and then we're coming out on the other side with the eye irritant.

Jam: 11:08

Okay. So it's like There's a piece that exists in there already that's kind of ready to go. Does that mean my precursor? Like,

Melissa: 11:19

It's just a compound that can be converted into this other thing

Jam: 11:22

Okay.

Melissa: 11:23

As a precursor.

Jam: 11:24

So it's already in there Mhmm. Ready to go. And then Mhmm. The enzyme kinda sets it off once

Melissa: 11:33

Yeah. That's a good way to think of it.

Jam: 11:34

Okay.

Melissa: 11:35

So and they thought it was just a one step process for the longest time. However and I'm not sure exactly what this time like timeline looks like. Eventually, they realized that if you took that specific precursor that was present in onions and mixed it with the enzyme, you didn't get the thing out that onions release.

Jam: 11:54

Okay.

Melissa: 11:55

So there's something missing. Uh-huh. What's that? Thought, a, that already exists in onions, a plus b, this enzyme, equals c.

Jam: 12:08

Mhmm.

Melissa: 12:09

And then I don't know when the time line is to when they realize this was wrong, then they learned that a plus, b doesn't equal c.

Jam: 12:17

Like, it doesn't quite equal c? Like, there's some something that's missing, but not like Not like it's not like saying, like, 4 plus 4 we have a 4 plus 4 equaled 28. And then they realize, no. It's not even close. Or is it more like, we thought 4 plus 4 equaled 9?

Melissa: 12:36

It's pretty close. Because this, And we'll get into this later, but Okay. They were right about garlic. So we'll talk about garlic too. But what's crazy to me is as recently as 2002 Mhmm.

Melissa: 12:49

They finally discovered the enzyme, the 2nd enzyme in onions that makes a thing that hurts our eyes.

Jam: 12:59

2002.

Melissa: 13:00

2002. That's crazy recent.

Jam: 13:02

We've been cutting onions for such a long time and had no idea.

Melissa: 13:05

I know. Oh, it's amazing. So, basically, it's a compound called the initial compound is called let me pull up my notes so I get it right.

Jam: 13:15

Okay.

Melissa: 13:15

S one proponyl l cysteine sulfoxide. You guys don't care about that. But if there's a organic chemist out there, that would at least mean a few things to you. So that compound reacts with the enzyme that they've always known has been around for a long time

Jam: 13:32

Mhmm.

Melissa: 13:34

And gives you propanelsulfenic acid. Again, that doesn't mean anything to you guys. It's just a sulfur containing compound. Doesn't matter a ton. And then that reacts with the new 2002 enzyme.

Melissa: 13:51

It's always been around, but newly discovered to us, 2002 enzyme Uh-huh. To create the thing that irritates our eyes. And the thing that irritates our eyes is sometimes called lachrymatory factor. I think that's a biology type term. Mhmm.

Melissa: 14:06

In the chemistry world, it would be known as propan propanethiol s oxide, which doesn't mean anything to you guys. So you can call it either 1, lachrymatory factor or propanethial s oxide. I'm just gonna continue to call it the eye irritant.

Jam: 14:22

Okay. Okay.

Melissa: 14:23

That helps.

Jam: 14:24

That helps me.

Melissa: 14:24

I'm like, oh, no.

Jam: 14:25

There's always words.

Melissa: 14:26

So 1 compound reacts with an enzyme to make a new compound. Uh-huh. Then another enzyme that nobody knew about comes in and takes it 1 step further to make our eyeball irritant.

Jam: 14:40

So oh, man. That's interesting. So Mhmm. We always knew there was an enzyme. Yes.

Jam: 14:45

But what really threw us was when there was a second enzyme that we didn't know about. And that's what is actually making a plus b equal c. That is actually making

Melissa: 14:56

Mhmm. Our

Jam: 14:57

eyes get irritated Yes. With cut onions.

Melissa: 14:59

Yes. We thought we knew and didn't.

Jam: 15:09

Mhmm.

Melissa: 15:10

2, the plant has a defense mechanism against being hurt, and that's why we experience pain.

Jam: 15:18

Yeah.

Melissa: 15:18

And 3, it doesn't happen until it's cut in so that it's not just constantly emitting this dangerous thing Yeah. But it's only emitting this dangerous thing when it's in danger.

Jam: 15:30

Yeah.

Melissa: 15:30

All of that is so cool to me.

Jam: 15:32

That is crazy. Gosh.

Melissa: 15:34

So exciting. I thought this was gonna be real simple.

Jam: 15:37

Yeah.

Melissa: 15:37

There's something in onions, and when you cut it, it hurts your eyes. The end. But there's so many, I hate that I'm about to say this, layers to it. Yes. There we go.

Melissa: 15:49

Yep.

Jam: 15:50

That is great.

Melissa: 15:51

So it's pretty amazing.

Jam: 15:53

Yeah. That's so crazy. And I think I think I often think of some of these things as being True and known by the scientific community for, like, a long time. Mhmm. Being not part of it, you like, anyone who's like me who's not in it would assume, like, oh, yeah.

Jam: 16:06

These people have known this stuff forever. Yeah. We just don't we can't understand it. But hearing that it was that recent, 2002, that they actually kinda fully discovered what was going on here is very cool. Like, it's some of the simplest but very everyday things of life are still being discovered all the time.

Melissa: 16:24

I know it's so cool. That's cool. And just a little bit further, sometimes it's hard in biochemical structures Mhmm. To really know what the structure is because they're so complex. Mhmm.

Melissa: 16:37

So for simple organic compounds, it's easy to know the structure, but a structure of what comp, what components, what, atoms, how they're folded, all of this stuff makes up an enzyme, or Different biological things can be really complicated. And so even after they discovered it, it took them until 2017 to understand the chemical structure Mhmm. Of the enzyme that creates the thing.

Jam: 17:06

Mhmm. Wow.

Melissa: 17:07

Isn't that amazing?

Jam: 17:08

Yes.

Melissa: 17:09

That was 2 years ago at the time of this recording.

Jam: 17:12

Oh my gosh.

Melissa: 17:13

So they knew what it did and and the basic mechanics of how it did it, but they didn't understand the full crystal structure is what it's called, the full understanding and definition of the way that worked until 2017.

Jam: 17:28

Yeah. Gosh.

Melissa: 17:30

Very cool. But wait. Do you wanna know why it irritates your eyes?

Jam: 17:36

Yes.

Melissa: 17:37

Okay. I looked into the mechanism, and I can see how it would happen, but it's pretty complex.

Jam: 17:42

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 17:42

So I can't verify this by my own writing the mechanism. But one of my sources said that the Eye irritating compound, when it hits the water Mhmm. In your eyes, it reacts with the water in your eyes and maybe some oxygen from the air Mhmm. And forms a tiny bit of sulfuric acid.

Jam: 18:05

Woah.

Melissa: 18:06

And that sulfuric acid is very corrosive and irritating to your eyes. So it's your eyes are trying to get it out as fast as possible.

Jam: 18:14

So it has what it needs available, like, In itself Mhmm. And in the air and stuff to just form that acid?

Melissa: 18:22

A little bit of sulfuric acid. Yeah.

Jam: 18:24

Oh, man. That definitely sounds like it would Irritate the eyes.

Melissa: 18:28

It does. Yeah. So sulfuric acid is corrosive. So anytime it comes into the delicate membranes in your eyes, it the delicate membranes anywhere in your body, but now we're talking about your eyes specifically, it will cause the the burning sensation that you that sometimes accompanies the eye watering with onions Yeah. That is sulfuric acid burning your eyes.

Jam: 18:53

Wow.

Melissa: 18:53

But just a tiny amount.

Jam: 18:55

Interesting.

Melissa: 18:56

Mhmm. Isn't that crazy?

Jam: 18:59

Yeah. Seriously. What the heck?

Melissa: 19:01

And because of that, I know a few ways that you can stop the onion eye water thing.

Jam: 19:06

There we go. That's what we need.

Melissa: 19:08

But first, first, I want you to tell me back everything you just learned, and then we'll talk about it more.

Jam: 19:13

Okay. Onions on their own don't cause this Like, there's a whole onion that you are holding Mhmm. Or whatever, that you just got from the store, which makes sense. We all know that. Yeah.

Jam: 19:24

But it's, like, Definitely nice if that's not the case. Because otherwise, they'd be, like, I think people probably wouldn't cook with very often just having them around. Or you have, like, onion bag or something like that. Alright. This thing's sealed away.

Jam: 19:35

So, it doesn't happen on its own, but once you cut it or once it's damaged or something like that in in nature or something like that, it's kind of a defense mechanism. And it then a compound is, like, created or released whatever, but we it's not already just like The burning stuff

Melissa: 19:57

Mhmm.

Jam: 19:57

Just in the onion already.

Melissa: 19:58

Mhmm. And

Jam: 20:00

until recently, they didn't have all the pieces together

Melissa: 20:02

Mhmm.

Jam: 20:02

To figure How it happens, but it sounds like, if I heard it correctly, there's, like, some compounds present, and then they Found out that there's not just 1, but recently found out that there are 2 enzymes Right. That Essentially make this make it happen. I'm I'm not totally pushing that part, but, basically, like, they make the new Saying form

Melissa: 20:29

Mhmm.

Jam: 20:30

When it's cut.

Melissa: 20:31

Yes.

Jam: 20:32

And that's released into the air.

Melissa: 20:33

Yes.

Jam: 20:34

And what's crazy too is that Because of the makeup of the stuff that's was sent to the air Mhmm. It has what it needs available combined with what elements it's already made up of

Melissa: 20:45

Mhmm.

Jam: 20:46

To form a little tiny amount

Melissa: 20:50

Yes.

Jam: 20:50

Of sulfuric acid Yes. Which is just enough. I'm sure it wouldn't take much, honestly, Our eyes are really sensitive

Melissa: 20:56

Yes.

Jam: 20:56

To then cause a reaction. And we all are always standing right above it anyway. If we're sitting right on top of the Mhmm. The onion. So it's, like, doesn't have to travel far.

Jam: 21:05

But is that right?

Melissa: 21:06

Did I do it? Yes. I'll say, I think that there's something when we cut or the onion is damaged that it breaks the cell walls. And that's more biology, but something in the damaging of the cell walls allows the enzyme to react with the precursors to make the the airborne compound, the gaseous one that hits our eyes. So that's one thing I wanted to clarify.

Melissa: 21:29

And 2, I think you did a good job of explaining it, but just to hit it one more time, there's a precursor that exists, and it goes through 1 enzyme and then make something new, and the new thing goes through a second inside.

Jam: 21:42

Okay.

Melissa: 21:42

And what's created at the end is an airborne organic compound Mhmm. That, yeah, like you said, when it hits your eyes, turns into sulfuric acid.

Jam: 21:52

So the substance, Enzyme, like a precursor kind of compound deal enzyme. Mhmm. And then the product of that

Melissa: 21:59

Mhmm.

Jam: 21:59

Then hits another enzyme.

Melissa: 22:00

Mhmm. And

Jam: 22:01

then we get the thing that Gets placed into the air.

Melissa: 22:03

Yes.

Jam: 22:04

And that's how a plus b equals c to quote your the earlier conundrum that the scientists were Experiencing.

Melissa: 22:11

Yep. That's exactly right.

Jam: 22:13

Wow. So

Melissa: 22:13

it's all chemical reaction.

Jam: 22:15

And so now how do we Protect ourselves against this vicious vegetable.

Melissa: 22:21

Well, you could wear goggles if you wanted.

Jam: 22:25

My a friend of my mom's, who's kinda quirky, one time gave her onion goggles, and we thought it was the funniest thing. We thought it was just like, what? Why would you wear these? She probably should use them. I probably should steal them, actually, if she's not gonna use them.

Melissa: 22:39

Onion goggles, I think, would maybe be the most effective for protecting your eyes without changing the flavor in the onion. Mhmm. But the other option you have, there's 2 more. One, you could keep your onion cold before you do it Mhmm. Because reactions require energy Mhmm.

Melissa: 22:58

And something that's cold has lost some of that energy. Mhmm. So there's less heat. There's less energy to put into the reaction.

Jam: 23:07

Oh, that is interesting. Mhmm. Mhmm.

Melissa: 23:09

And it's

Jam: 23:09

one of the vegetables that a lot of people don't refrigerate if they're gonna use them

Melissa: 23:12

pretty soon.

Jam: 23:12

It's like, oh, yeah. I'll just keep it in a in a bowl or whatever.

Melissa: 23:15

Yeah. Pretty much any reaction, if you Put it in cold, it will slow it down because it's missing energy. So that's one option. The other is to run water over the onion Uh-huh. While you're cutting it, which I think could be complicated.

Jam: 23:31

Yeah. That would.

Melissa: 23:32

But that would basically re react with That, plus the air, would basically react with the onion fast enough to stop the reaction from ever getting to your eyes. So sulfuric acid will be formed and washed away before it ever got your eyes. Got it.

Jam: 23:44

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. That would be hard because onions are some of the, like, more treacherous things you have to cut.

Jam: 23:49

You gotta keep your hand on it so that it's, like, if you're dicing them, that is. Yes. It's like they're gonna start falling apart pretty quickly.

Melissa: 23:55

So those are the 2 main ways. The third way

Jam: 23:59

Mhmm.

Melissa: 24:00

Is crazy and not available to the public yet. But I believe the same group that discovered in 2002 discovered the enzyme Mhmm. Is working to genetically modify onions so that they don't have that enzyme anymore. Oh my gosh. Isn't that crazy?

Jam: 24:23

That is crazy.

Melissa: 24:25

It's not commercially available yet, and it might change the flavor of the onion.

Jam: 24:29

Yeah. I was gonna say that. What if it has, like, these unintended effects? Not even, like, some of the things we talked about that have been pretty negative. But if it's just like, oh, this is less enjoyable.

Jam: 24:36

Like Yeah. Some people swear that, you know, a diet drink doesn't taste the same. Whatever. And, which I would actually agree with on on almost all of them.

Melissa: 24:45

Mhmm.

Jam: 24:46

But it might be like, okay. Well, yep. It's nice to not have the burning, but I'm still gonna use regularly. Onions. But that is just very cool.

Melissa: 24:54

Isn't that so cool? Yeah. I absolutely loved learning about This, I had so much fun out there. So many scientific papers in the American Chemical Society journals and stuff that a lot of times, I'm just getting websites so that I'm not a 100% sure that I don't even know if this is right. You know?

Melissa: 25:13

And so it was fun, and I have to do a lot of digging to find make sure that it's right.

Jam: 25:18

Yeah.

Melissa: 25:18

It was fun to find papers in my own journals that I'm used to in being so excited about it. So That was really cool.

Jam: 25:26

Ding, that's awesome.

Melissa: 25:28

So that's it. That's how it works. Wow. Fun,

Jam: 25:31

Yeah. I wish I'd known some of those, like, other tactics A long time ago, there's been many times where I feel like, oh my gosh. My eyes are still burning, like, a long time later. And it feels like I mean, I would've loved to have tried, know, putting in the I'm definitely going to now, putting them in the fridge or maybe trying the water thing if I could figure out a way to do it that won't, like

Melissa: 25:49

Cut you.

Jam: 25:49

Make a huge mess or whatever.

Melissa: 25:51

Well and I think I'm not positive, but I think the keeping it in the fridge could It would change some other chemical reactions if those are happening, and it could change the flavor a little Mhmm. But I don't think it'd be significant.

Jam: 26:06

Yeah. So Have you heard some of the the theories people have about that they're, like, nonscientific theories about how to not be burned? No. One of them is this. It's the only one I remember very clearly I've heard recently from somebody who believes it is to take the very middle part of the onion out completely, that way, at the very beginning, And they swear that makes the burning less bad.

Melissa: 26:28

I'm not sure I believe that that would do anything. Yeah. Unless there's a higher concentration in the middle of that thing

Jam: 26:35

Right.

Melissa: 26:35

Which is possible.

Jam: 26:36

Yeah.

Melissa: 26:36

But I didn't read anything about that.

Jam: 26:38

Yeah. That's one of the things I've heard people say where it's like they obviously don't have any That about it. I was like, oh, yeah. Get rid of the core. Okay.

Melissa: 26:45

I think I've heard something about holding a spoon in your mouth, but I don't know what that is.

Jam: 26:49

Mhmm.

Melissa: 26:50

I guess it could maybe this stainless steel could react or something, but I'd have to look into that one too.

Jam: 26:55

Anywhere in astronaut's helmet or, like, a in scuba gear, that would work. Yeah.

Melissa: 26:59

That absolutely would. The scuba gear for sure. Yeah. Scuba those goggles, that would absolutely protect your eyeballs.

Jam: 27:05

Yeah. That's another really common, you know, household Solution to it. So

Melissa: 27:10

Well, that's it. So do you wanna move into our next section? I have a little surprise that I haven't told you about.

Jam: 27:17

Woah. Yes.

Melissa: 27:17

You know how we normally talk about what made us happy this week? Uh-huh. Since it's Thanksgiving month, instead, I wanna talk about what we're thankful for this week.

Jam: 27:26

Oh, nice. Okay. Great. So what

Melissa: 27:29

are you thankful for this week, Jim? My family always did this at Thanksgiving. We would just write down what we're thankful for in a basket, and they would read it out loud and call it our thankful thankfuls. So I'll just call these these are our thankfuls that are in at the end of our show for this month.

Jam: 27:43

Dang. I like that. It's good to be thankful. I'm thankful for something a little bit unusual this week. My foot has been, under the weather.

Jam: 27:53

I had a a sore on my foot, which I'm not gonna go to details if any of you guys are squeamish, but, basically, it's just a bad place to get a sore because not only does it affect everything you do because you walk around, but that also Can in turn have a, like, a a preventative preventing it from being able to heal Right. Effect, because I've been, like, trying to move on with my life, which has probably made it Worse. And so I've been on it a lot, and it's act it got worse for a while. And I've had this thing for, like, 3 weeks. And yeah.

Jam: 28:23

As of, like, 3 days ago or so, it started showing signs of getting better.

Melissa: 28:26

That's so exciting.

Jam: 28:27

We've got some antibiotics being pumped into my body now and, some Killer, like, prescription, antibiotic cream stuff.

Melissa: 28:37

Nice. And

Jam: 28:38

it is doing the job. So I'm thankful because, it's A lot less trouble. It's getting better. It's not hurting as much. All these

Melissa: 28:45

It stings when every single step you take is painful.

Jam: 28:47

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And I've only been were able to wear certain shoes because other ones are not, like don't have enough give or whatever. Yeah.

Jam: 28:54

Anyway so I'm very, very thankful. It's one of the things, like, you talked about when you're sick, you're like, oh

Melissa: 28:59

my gosh. Yes.

Jam: 28:59

Remember what it's like to be well? I'm like, man, remember when I just walked around every day and didn't even think about it? Like, jeez.

Melissa: 29:05

I remember when I could walk, and it was fine.

Jam: 29:08

That was

Melissa: 29:08

so funny.

Jam: 29:09

See exactly how I feel. So I'm very, very thankful. What about you?

Melissa: 29:12

Nice. I am thankful. I actually was in a friend's wedding this past weekend. Mhmm. And it's it's one of my former roommates.

Melissa: 29:21

We lived together for 4 years or 3 years?

Jam: 29:25

Mhmm.

Melissa: 29:26

And she just I'm so happy for them. They are such a great Couple, they worked really hard. They invested a lot leading up to their marriage. They worked on themselves separately. They've we're together for the whole time we lived together.

Melissa: 29:42

Mhmm. And so just to finally see after that long period of investing and making sure that they were going to have a good marriage, that they got to be married It was so fun. And the wedding was just really fun. We, I was part of the wedding party, and The ceremony was far away from the reception. So they rented a bus, and it was not like a regular bus.

Melissa: 30:04

It was, I guess, a party bus, which, You know, sounds crazy, but and so we could all move around and talk. And

Jam: 30:10

Yeah.

Melissa: 30:10

It's the only time I've ever been in a wedding where there was a whole 30 or 45 minutes where I just got to be with the bride and the groom and all of the rest of the wedding party and just have fun.

Jam: 30:23

Yeah. Because it's like you're pretty separate a lot of times for a lot of weddings. Like Yeah. At least the, like, bridesmaids and stuff. Mhmm.

Jam: 30:29

From the grooming, groomsmen, all that stuff.

Melissa: 30:31

Yeah. And you don't you're supposed to be doing something most of the time.

Jam: 30:34

Like, it's

Melissa: 30:35

this and then assist and then assist. And maybe you get to relax at the reception, but they don't get to relax.

Jam: 30:39

Yeah.

Melissa: 30:39

They're the couple is out and about, and meeting ingredient. And so it was this very it was almost like a really tiny special reception just for us, and we couldn't do anything else. You know? We didn't have any other tasks. So it was just a fun celebration, and that was, I think a memory that's gonna last me a really long time.

Melissa: 31:00

It was really fun.

Jam: 31:01

Dang. Yeah. Wow.

Melissa: 31:02

Congratulations, Kaylee and Thomas. Nice. I'm so excited for your for your marriage.

Jam: 31:09

Dain, that's awesome.

Melissa: 31:10

It's very fun. So that's what I'm thankful for this week. Okay. Let's get into some references. The references I used for this episode is an article in The ACS called enzyme that makes you cry, crystal structure of lachrymatory factor, synthase from Allium Cepa.

Melissa: 31:31

And the lead author on that was Josie Siliveroli. Hopefully, I said that right. And then I used a Hillsborough College In the UK website, it looks like a pretty outdated website, but the information was accurate. I double checked with those other ones. And that is chm.bris.ac.uk/

Jam: 32:00

Oh, wow.

Melissa: 32:01

It's a really long one. I'll put the link in the show notes, but it's, from Paul m. Burnham at Hillsborough College. And his was just an overview of the steps of forming the final eye irritant.

Jam: 32:17

Mhmm.

Melissa: 32:18

Why do onions make you cry in Science News, and the source on that was Texas A&M University. They were We're working with scientists at Texas A&M University to come up with an accurate article. And thiropenyl s oxide, a lachrymatory factor in onions. That's a 1971 article when they first started to discover the high irritant, which is pretty fun and cool.

Jam: 32:42

Yeah.

Melissa: 32:43

And finally, the Nature article, an onion enzyme that makes the eyes water. This was the primary author is s I'm gonna butcher this, m I, I m a I. And that article in Nature was when they initially discovered the final enzyme. That was in 2002. So those are all my references.

Melissa: 33:09

Thank you so much to all those sources for your cool work on onions and sharing it with the world.

Jam: 33:15

Yeah.

Melissa: 33:15

That's been really fun.

Jam: 33:17

And we'd also like to thank some new countries, new people listening around the world In Nepal, Panama, Cambodia, and a tier tour of the US, Puerto Rico.

Melissa: 33:29

So that's been fun to watch it expand even more this week. Yeah. And thanks to all of you guys who are listening. We're so thankful that you wanna learn about chemistry, and that you tune in every week to learn something new.

Jam: 33:44

Melissa and I have a lot of ideas for topics of chemistry in everyday life, but we wanna hear from you. So if you have any questions or ideas, you can reach out to us on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at chem for your life. That's chem, f o r, your life, to share your thoughts and ideas. If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And if you really like it, you can write a review on Apple Podcasts.

Jam: 34:03

That helps us to share chemistry with even more people.

Melissa: 34:06

This episode of chemistry for your life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jam Robinson. Jam Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to a Calini and v Garza who reviewed this episode.