BME

BME may refer to:

2-Mercaptoethanol

2-Mercaptoethanol (also β-mercaptoethanol, BME, 2BME, 2-ME or β-met) is the chemical compound with the formula HOCH₂CH₂SH. ME or βME, as it is commonly abbreviated, is used to reduce disulfide bonds and can act as a biological antioxidant by scavenging hydroxyl radicals (amongst others). It is widely used because the hydroxyl group confers solubility in water and lowers the volatility. Due to its diminished vapor pressure, its odor, while unpleasant, is less objectionable than related thiols.

Preparation

2-Mercaptoethanol may be prepared by the action of hydrogen sulfide on ethylene oxide:

Reactions

2-Mercaptoethanol reacts with aldehydes and ketones to give the corresponding oxathiolanes. This makes 2-mercaptoethanol useful as a protecting group.

Applications

Reducing proteins

Some proteins can be denatured by 2-mercaptoethanol, which cleaves the disulfide bonds that may form between thiol groups of cysteine residues. In the case of excess 2-mercaptoethanol, the following equilibrium is shifted to the right:

BMEzine

Body Modification Ezine (BME) is an online magazine devoted to body modification, noted for its coverage of the extreme and fringes of body modification and erotic body play.

History and content

BME was started as a web site hosted at Internex Online on December 6, 1994 by Shannon Larratt and was the first body modification website.

BME was expanded in 2000 by the addition of IAM.BMEzine, an online community, which hosts blogs specifically for members of the body-modification community.

In late 2005, BME added both a video sister site, BMEvideo and a body modification blog, Modblog.BMEzine.com.

The site often publishes hoax articles each year on April Fools' Day.

Both Shannon and Rachel Larratt have cameo appearances in the Kevin Smith feature Clerks II.

On May 14, 2008 Shannon Larratt posted onto ModBlog that he would no longer be an employee of BME.

On March 15, 2013 it was announced that the founder of the site, Shannon Larratt, had died.

BME BBQs

Patrons of the BME website and its IAM community have often gathered for barbecues where they can meet with one another. Historically, the largest of these BBQs, known as BMEFest, were held in or around Toronto, Ontario and generally on Canada Day with hundreds of participants. The festivities of BMEFest almost always include suspensions, fireworks, Pain Olympics, grilled food both vegan and otherwise, and there is usually a commemorative T-shirt for each event. It is generally free to attend but it is encouraged to sign up ahead of time and may be exclusive to a private group.