2013-10-22
Explanation
The Joke
The comic is titled "This is what it's like to learn endocrinology." A teacher begins explaining the steroid hormone synthesis pathway: "So 17-hydroxylvine becomes pregnenolone, which becomes 17-hydroxy progesterone, which can either get 21-hydroxylase to become 11-deoxycortisol, or get 17,20-lyase to become androstenedione..."
A confused student says "I'm confused." The teacher replies: "Oh sorry, it's a little tricky at first. But I brought along this helpful diagram." The diagram is then revealed to be an impossibly tangled, colorful mess of lines and arrows -- even more confusing than the verbal explanation.
The Humor
The joke is a relatable one for anyone who has studied biochemistry or endocrinology. The steroid hormone synthesis pathways are notoriously complex, with numerous intermediate compounds, enzymes, and branching pathways. The comic captures the experience of a student already drowning in terminology, only to be "helped" by a diagram that is even more incomprehensible. The visual of the chaotic diagram perfectly represents how these metabolic pathway charts actually look to a student encountering them for the first time -- an overwhelming web of names and arrows that provides no clarity whatsoever.
References
The comic references the actual steroid hormone biosynthesis pathway (steroidogenesis), which converts cholesterol into various steroid hormones like cortisol, testosterone, and estrogen through a series of enzymatic steps. The pathway diagrams used in medical and biochemistry education are genuinely complex and notoriously difficult to memorize.
Votey
The votey shows someone cheerfully exclaiming "Endocrinology jokes!" -- the humor being that this is an extremely niche topic for comedy, and the enthusiasm is amusingly disproportionate to the subject matter's appeal to a general audience.