Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Evolution

The Theory of Evolution

      Evolution is a subject that I find highly enjoyable and interesting. The subject is very debatable however whether you’re an evolutionist or not it’s something that I think everyone should be open minded enough to hear about and understand the reasoning behind this fascinating theory.
      Jean de Lamarck (1744-1829) was one of the first evolution theorists. He was actually a French biologist that evolved the theory of organic evolution. His research influenced many evolutionists, including Charles Darwin.
      Darwinism is the theory of the evolution of species by natural selection advanced by Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was an English theorist. Darwin actually took many of his grandfather’s studies and took it upon himself to expand on them even farther. Darwin did a great deal of traveling. At the time traveling by sea was one’s only choice. Unfortunately, Darwin did not have a strong stomach for the sea and spent most of his time sick. When he had finally reached land he took up his time keeping detailed journals of notes, stories, and drawings of what he and his crew had seen and experienced. His most well-known voyage was the voyage of The Beagle. It took several years, most of it sea sick. They left from Plymouth, England traveled south around most of South America then west to Australia. Between South America and Australia were the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Islands are a huge archipelago. These islands were crucial in Darwin’s research. These islands were full of a wide variety of new and foreign animal species. This was particularly fascinating for Darwin because the animal and plant life there showed their individuality more clearly than anywhere else he had been due to their isolation. He finished his voyage around the bottom of Africa and finally back to England. In 1859 he published his theory of evolution called The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. At the time evolution was a far-fetched idea and most thought it to be outrageous. Many also disliked it because it went against their religion. Darwin also did a joint presentation with Alfred Russle Wallace to the Linnaean society of London in 1858. Before this was held most people believed Aristotle and the Bible’s book of Genesis which said that everything was created in their present form and were currently unchanging. Darwin certainly made his voice heard and changed the world of science forever.
      Microevolution is small change in genes within a given species. This can be a change in resistance, size, or various other characteristics. Macroevolution on the other hand transcends boundaries of a single species. Natural selection is closely related to microevolution. Natural selection is each organism’s decision in a mate. In nearly all cases organisms will choose the best candidate possible in order to create the healthiest, strongest, most superior offspring possible. It is a survival of the fittest scenario. If an organism is created that is totally adapted to its surroundings and can navigate them as best possible they are most likely to grow up and create another generation even more apt to survive. One example of natural selection would be in butterflies. Butterflies with elaborate multi-colored wings in a mossy dark forest are far more likely to stand out, and thus suffer a most painful death compared to a butterfly with wings that camouflage with its surroundings. The butterflies that survive with their camouflage wings will go on to produce another generation that is even better with blending in with their surroundings creating more and more butterflies adapt at avoiding predators. This will go on and on, each generation being slightly different from the last and ever so slightly better.
      Mutations in organisms can also occur. A mutation is a change in genetic makeup of an organism this may be large scale or small scale. There is no real way of determining if an organism will receive a mutant gene. It all depends on if one specific gene is passed down or is created improperly. Mutations usually occur in recessive genes.
     The study of DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is an extremely vast subject but DNA supplies the basic information for all life. Fossils are the remains of organisms or their imprints preserved in various ways in rocks. Naturalists around the world began finding fossils and bones of unknown animals in the late 1700’s. Some nutters even believed that “god” had intentionally planted these fossils there simply to make life more interesting. Various stories/tall tales began being told about the animals that these fossils came from. The fossil stories were blown way out of proportion. In this day and age they would be considered to have “gone viral.” The fossil record is the record of the history of plants and animals. What I think of when we talk of this is Jurassic Park when they recover DNA from an ancient mosquito embedded in Amber. No matter how unlikely, the concept is radical. The idea of “what if” is great.
       Really you shouldn’t even get me started on this subject. The fossil record is fairly obvious, absolute physical evidence that can be studied by anyone and everyone on earth and clearly proves that evolution is quite nearly a fact, hence the term scientific theory. Simply tracing fossils and bones and diagrams of them will show a progression or change in the physical structure of plants and animals through history. Even throughout the last one hundred years we ought to be able to see that even in livestock breeding humans have used selective breeding to improve their stock. So, in my opinion everyone should be able to see that evolution is pretty obvious fact that is on-going. It’s something that everyone needs to accept be aware of and enjoy.


Bibliography


Camp, Pamela S., and Karen Arms. Exploring Biology. Philadelphia: Saunders College Pub., 1981. Print.

"Biochemistry in Evolution." DCS - Technology Courses for High School Students. Web. 18 May 2011.

AboutDarwin.com - Home Page. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 18 May 2011.

"What Is Microevolution?" Understanding Evolution. Web. 18 May 2011.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

DNA Sequencing

The project we've been working on in class is covering DNA again and how likely it would be to contract a disease with a certain amount of mutations.  After we took down the information on mutations in the four specimens we graphed the information.   The normal specimen was Norm.  The others had slight defects but none so bad as Carol whom most definitely has some funky mutation junk goin' on!! There's really no way of telling what exactly disease or disorder she is carrying but due to the serious defects in her DNA there is a very good chance that she may not be long for this world.  However, since there isn't a way of knowing what exactly she has there is the possibility of that is something non life threatening and she'll only have some treatable side effects.  Carol though, will indeed have some sort of disorder whether she likes it or not, poor dear.



Protein Sequences
Norm: Met Val His Leu Thr Pro Glu Glu Lys Ser Ala
Abby: Met Val His Leu Thr Pro Val Glue Lys Ser Ala
Bob: Met Val His Leu Thr Pro Glue Glue STOP Ser Ala
Carol: Met Val His Leu Thr Val Arg Arg Ser Leu 

Gattaca

I truly enjoyed the film Gattaca!  For just a movie review I would like to say that it was very well done.  The story line was good,  the casting was quite nice, and script/dialogue was clear and never lagged.  The only issue I saw was the era.   The film began with a subtitle that read "In the not so distant future."  However the costumes, hairstyle, props, etc. all had a 40's flair to it which didn't exactly make a whole lot of since.  I understand that styles of clothes are being brought back from previous eras but in the film I really didn't see the relationship.  It wasn't that it was wrong by any means, it was actually really nice not to see neon over the top tacky "futuristic" clothing.  The costumes did make them look professional and clean cut which may be what they were going for.  Anyway now for the actual plot and science and all that jazz.  The idea that everything in the movie is indeed possible is positively frightening and mind boggling.  I feel that life would no longer be our own,  we would become more like robots than anything else.  The film discussed how the population in the future would be expected to be perfect and those who weren't would feel insignificant.  Even those who were nearly perfect would find it impossible to focus on anything but one simple flaw.  I already feel pressured into being perfect, I can't think what it would be like having everyone around you expecting so much.  How "perfect" you were also determined your rank not only in society but also in your job.  In order to know the level of perfection job interviewers would run DNA tests on interviewees  I personally would absolutely hate having tests done constantly for something so simple.  I feel that it would be an invasion of space and privacy and I find the idea of blood being drawn to be positively nauseating.  What you want to become as a person is entirely up to you.  Yes, those around you do mold the way you grow but it isn't up to others as to what you can and can't do.  "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

Questions

3.  The relationship between Vincent and Anton was always a bit strained even through childhood.  Though Anton was genetically better I think he always felt a little different because he was part of the "robot" world, he lacked the naturalness that Vincent had.  Vincent, felt just the same.  He always felt inferior to Anton because Anton was considered to be so handsome, and athletic, and talented and everything that Vincent wasn't.  So though they didn't realize it, they were both jealous of the other for opposite reasons.

5.  My favorite character in the movie was Jerome Marrow.  He was a former swimming star but suffered a severe accident that prevented him from ever walking again.  I quite enjoyed this character because he was a stuffy British man...my favorite.  He was rude, sarcastic and terribly funny.  But it seemed like there was more to this character than met the eye.  His dark past really turned him into a tormented dark character without coming straight off as that.  On the other hand he was very extremely compassionate.  He basically gave his life to another.  All of the sacrifices he made for Vincent must have been heart breaking because he knew what he could be if it weren't for his accident.  It was a really bold role in my opinion and the actor portrayed very well.  I however, would really not like to be Jerome.  He has a rather tragic past and is no longer mobile, one of the things I see as top priority for a living being.  I am also quite selfish so I probably wouldn't be willing to give my "life" to another, even if I was handicapped.

6.  The doctor at the end of the movie went along with the fraud because Vincent was his son.  Though Vincent may not have realized it, his father loved him and truly believed in his abilities even with his genetic problems.  If I had been the doctor and only the doctor I probably would have turned him in.  If I had been the doctor as well as the parent I probably wold have let it slide.  I know this sounds horrible but I know I'm not the only one in the world that feels like this.

7.  I think that something to the effect of Vincent's world is possible but not likely.  I think there would be fairly strict regulations as to how it was used.  Mainly that people would want to help with diseases and defects before birth but I think there would be a lot of issues with religion.  I think there would be lots of back lash about "god made us all the way he wanted" etc etc.  I think Gattaca types of technology would help a great deal with investigations and would be used quite a lot.  Overall its expected that it will be used but probably not the extent that the movie showed.

8.  I think the society in Gattaca was focused far too much on perfection and not just on the simple pleasures of life.  "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".  However, there were plenty of things that were right like their huge steps in technology and the challenges they made for themselves.