Genome entry #6 Sex

Genetic diseases affect the genes in that it will cause a mutation and a disease will formulate. The Prader-willi syndrome and the angelman's syndrome are caused by the lack of chromosome 15. Furthermore, it has been proven that the only way to get it is if your parent has a mutation and it can be inherited. Prader-willi is from the father and angelman's from the mother. Placenta in the womb is controlled by paternal genes and has invade the others womb and gives resources to the child. Imprinting controls the mothers genes and it controls the development of the cerebral cortex and the hypothalamus. We inherit our mothers way of thinking and our fathers mood. Also gender roles are controlled by the genome rather than environmental situations around the person. Cloning apparently gets rid of all imprints of an organism and so that that organism can survive longer.

Genome entry #5 Disease

Disease is never constant there is never a real measure of what disease is about. It is the mutation of genes into a very dangerous form. It is hazardous to our health and can hinder our life. It is not natural selection but rather mutation. Some people are immune to certain dieases and others are not. For this immunibility, some people can get vaccinations which expose their genes to this infection. Others are suseptible because their immune system is very strong and can resist it. For example Malaria is known to exist in Africa. It is not known to exist here unless it is brought over to the U.S. We are immune to such because we are more susceptible to more deadly diseases rather than weak ones that affect others.

Genome entry # 4 Memory

Ridley talks about knowledge vs instinct. Are we controlled by our knowledge or our instinct. Natural selection plays a role in this chapter. Because as we progress humans are evolotionalized to learn and maintain what it learns. Kandel is known for isolating cyclic AMP and chemical found in the nuerons. This chemical changes when it learns something. A path is made and should be redrawn if it is learned twice which will help with the learning process. Humans are not the only creatures capable of learning. Many animals and insects are capable of learning such as rodents, bees, birds are capable of learning. Everything in the end is linked to genes and how we learn.

Genome entry #3 Life

To introduce this chapter, Ridley talks about the importance of RNA. It came before DNA and what makes these RNA and DNA are protein sequences. RNA is needed to create DNA. Francis Darwn believed that gene make up the pieces of our life. The two future inverters of DNA models are CRick and James Watson. One worked in a naval mine and the other at University of Chicago. Osward Avery discovered DNA as the chemical manifestation of heredity. Also that RNA came before proteins and that it DNA is a pattern written in words of the Alphabet. RNA and DNA are very important in the make up of life, it is what creates life. We are different from each other only because of RNA and DNA. As minor as that seems, it makes a huge impact on every living organism.

Genome entry #2 Fate

Our gene is very different from other people's genes. It is different because in our genes there are 3 different varieties of genes. ACG, AGC, GCA can be made. These can all repeat in many different ways, the max would be 35 times. If it repeats more than 35 times it means that something is wrong with your gene. Either you have a syndrome or your chromosome is messed up. The Wold-Hirschorn syndrome is a syndrome that lacks a short arm of chromosome number 4. Wexler's daughter had that syndrome and her father decided to try and find a cure for this disease. However the more he researched the more he discovered about this syndrome that is not very known in human society.

Genome entry #1 Intelligence

In Intelligence Robert Plomin and his colleagues did studies about specialized kids that are gifted. These kids are 12-14 years old. These students are the top 1% in their school. He wanted to see how their intelligence differ among humans. A blood test was done to test the intelligence. He discovered that the smart people have different kinds of genes, everyone has a different kind of IGF2R in their gene's pattern. Sternberg believe that there are 3 different kinds of intelligence, the first is analytic, creative and practical. Spearman later noticed that one student can excel from one subject but may do poorly on another subject, different from other students. Intelligence is different among different kinds of people, some believe that it is nurture and some believe that it is nature. Both are quite debatable.

Extra Credit: Feedback on Semester 1.

In your blog please give me some feedback on last semester


What topics really confused you?
I was really confused on Transpiration.

What topics do you feel very clear on?
I felt very clear on Ecology and and Cellular Respiration

What lab/ activity was your favorite? Why?
My favorite lab was the lab on Chromotography because I got to see how the pigment of the flower changes. Also I liked the pond water lab as well because we got to create our own pond water habitat.

What lab/activity was your least favorite? Why?
My least favorite was probably the jello lab because it was a failure and it did not work out.

If you could change something about the class to make it better, for instance the type of homework (not the amount) what would it be and why?
I would not want to have online simulations or blogs, more in class assignments and assign us pages to read because if it is not specifically assigned, it will not be as important as it can be if it was assigned.