Friday, February 28, 2014

Eugenics


Eugenics
    So many people may be wondering, what exactly is eugenics? Well it was a time when people believed that sterilizing all of the people that weren't in their eyes perfect humans. This was wrong on so many levels because they thought that if they sterilize them there would never be another one of them. If you were not the perfect race or you were blind and handicapped in any other way, you were to be sterilized. You were not given much of a choice at that time. They would even go against your will, it was all up to the people around you. So if you were ever going to be able to reproduce  the  people around you would decide or if they felt like you weren't right then you would just be sterilized. Sometimes people would go into surgery for one thing and come out steril. . There had been many highly  educated scientists who had believed all of the stuff that others had believed in.  What the people had been doing must of been seen as reasonable because it was of what everyone had been doing, instead it was looked down upon in our time more than it was actually was in their time.  In the end the whole entire world had been affected by the act of eugenics one way or another.
So the American Eugenics had developed in the wake of  turbulent economic and social problems following the Civil War. There had been a lot of different types of people moving into the United States,  The founder of eugenics was Francis Galton  who in 1883  perceived eugenics as a moral  philosophy to improve humanity by encouraging the ablest and the healthiest people to actually reproduce. The movements in eugenics had favored the negative approach in the United States, Scandinavia and Germany.  The eugenicists had argued that the defective (people who were not perfect in their eyes)  should not be prevented from breeding, through custody in asylums or compulsory sterilization. The favored methods had been vasectomy and tubal ligation but the doctors had felt that sterilization was a more humane way of dealing with people who could not help themselves. So some doctors believed that sterilization was not viewed as a punishment because the social failure of unfit people was due to an irreversibly degenerate germplasm.
So in the beginning they first had started to understand the human traits and how the child gets  one member of the gene pair from the mother and one from the fathers. These genes may either be recessive or dominant .Then a sexlinked was expressed when males inherit a recessive gene on their single X cromosome.So the eugenicists examined family peigrees and attempted to discern the patter of one of the three basics modes of inheritances.  Those were recessive, dominant or sex linked and back then and today the study of gene inheritances involves two important elements which are finding relate large families that express the trait under study and the scoring each family member for the presence or absence of the trait. In the first decades of the 20th century  eugenicists fared well on the first element, because large families were much more  common , but they had come across a problem because scoring traits was difficult  especially the the eugenicist would try to measure complex traits or complex mental illnesses. Some of those illnesses were like schizophrenia or manic depression.  During the entire  time of eugenics, DNA had not yet been shown to be the molecule of heredity.The eugenicists had no physical road marks to help them follow inheritance through a family.
The eugenics research had a large impact on the  American society. I believe the eugenicist were very judgement and had a image of a perfect world when in reality we will never have that. So they had so many people believing in something that was wrong and very untrue. Also people from certain places had been unfit to live in the U..S, therefore it was very hard to get through to the United States.
    The eugenics had many absurd laws when it came to marriage and mixing races.  So in the early 1900’s the eugenics movement had supplied a new set of argument to support the existing restrictions on interracial marriage. There had been legal restrictions of who could marry who. There had been supposedly biological dangers of mixing the races.They had believed that  it would lead to racial suicide and the eventual disappearance of white civilization.  
    So just think a little about all of this, I feel like the eugenicist and the people who had supported it in the end were very much in the wrong. At that if someone wanted a family they could either have it if they were the right race and had no problem, but if they had a slight problem or were they wrong race they were sterilized here had been supposedly biological dangers of mixing the races.. I believe everyone should have the opportunity of having their own family as long as their head is in the right place. I think if you handicap and you could take care of your child or weren't fit for a child, then no you should not bring one into the world because they could possibly grow up having the same problem as you. Also if you are a drug addict or homeless and aren't helping yourself then you should not have a child because you wouldn't be able to provide for the child , you could put them in harms way unintentionally, or you wouldn't  be able to give the love and attention because your mind would be elsewhere. Therefore I think those type of people should be given birth control, use protection or if they won't do any of  those then they should be sterilized., but that is just my own belief.

Sources
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

Monday, February 24, 2014

Spongebob Genetics Worksheet

 

Create-a-Baby Genetics

So doing this project, I was able to learn new information along with understanding what I already knew a little about. It was quiet fun creating different traits with just a flip of a coin. In the end creating the baby's face was quiet difficult and embarrassing because I am terrible at drawing.


Sunday, February 23, 2014

Meiosis, Mitosis and Cloning

Meiosis, Mitosis and Cloning
So there are three words that all mean something similar to one another. They are all ways new cells are made. So first of all Cloning is actually the process used to create identical copies of cells. Some common things that are cloned are insects and plants but the most common is bacteria. There are people who want to clone actual people for all the wrong ways but they haven't exactly figured out how to clone people which is probably for the best. So mitosis and meiosis sound pretty similar but they are very different. By using the slideshow off of moodle I was able to make a popplet of the differences between mitosis and meiosis. Here is the link.

Investigating Independent Assorment



INVESTIGATING INDEPENDENT ASSORTMENT: CONSIDERING MORE THAN ONE GENE AT A TIME



Mendel observed the effects of independent assortment when he carried out his dihybrid crosses. When he crossed two plants that bred true for different versions of two traits, the first-generation offspring all displayed the same phenotype (the dominant phenotype for both traits). However, when these plants were crossed, the second-generation offspring included four different phenotypes.


Mendel carefully recorded the numbers of phenotypes among the offspring of many dihybrid crosses. He found that certain combinations of phenotypes among the second-generation offspring occur in a 9:3:3:1 ratio, on the average. We now know that this pattern occurs because genes on pairs of homologous chromosomes are sorted out for distribution into one gamete or another independently of gene pairs of other chromosomes.


Activity


In this activity, you will first access the meiosis tutorial provided by the University of California, Santa Barbara. The tutorial demonstrates the random assortment of chromosomes into gametes. Next you will complete a tutorial quiz about independent assortment. This is part of The Biology Project from the University of Arizona.


Part 1.


Use your browser to go to the meiosis tutorial at



Use the tutorial to learn how to determine which allele combinations are possible in two or even three trait crosses.


Part 2.


Use your browser to go to the independent assortment tutorial at
Go through questions 1-9 of the tutorial. If you answer any question incorrectly, review the tutorial material and try again.


When you have completed this much of the tutorial, answer the questions below:


1. What type of gametes will be produced by a plant of genotype AaBb?
The type that will be produced are AB, Ab, aB, ab.

2. What type of gametes will be produced by a plant of genotype aabb?
The type that will be produced is ab.

3. List all the genotypes you would find among the offspring of an AaBb x aabb test cross.
All the genotypes that I found among the offspring are AaBa, Aabb, aaBb and aabb.


4. What is the expected phenotypic ratio of the offspring of an AaBb x aabb test cross? Show the punnett square you would use for predicting the outcomes

.
 
5.What are the genotypic and phenotypic ratios from a AaBb x Aabb mating? Show the punnett square you would use for predicting the outcomes.

6. List all possible gametes from a trihybrid individual whose genotype is RrSsTt.
All the possible gametes from a trihybrid individual whose genotype is RrSsTt are RST, Rst, STr, and rst.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Onion Root Tips Mitosis

Describe the mitosis what the phases looked like. 


ONION ROOT TIPS AND THE CELL CYCLE



In this activity, you will calculate the lengths of the various phases of the cell cycle in an onion root tip. First you will view some slides and graphics of onion root tips provided by the Molecular Expressions Photo Gallery. Then you will complete the online activity provided by the Biology Project at the University of Arizona.


Part 1.


Use your browser to go to Molecular Expressions Photo Gallery: Mitosis




Notice in the micrograph at the top of the page that there are cells in a variety of stages. View the onion slides in this section, then click on "mitosis" in the sentence "Learn the steps in mitosis ... " This will take you to a Java tutorial.  Keep in mind what you have learned here as you proceed to the second part of the activity.


Part 2.


Use your browser to go to Online Onion Root Tips at


Begin by reading the description of the five major cell phases. You will need to keep this information in mind during the activity.


Make a copy of the data sheet that appears on the second page. You will need it to answer the questions.


Proceed through the activity, identifying the phase for each cell you are shown. Pay attention to the hints if you misidentify a cell at first.


When you have completed the activity, answer the following questions:


1. What percent of cells were in interphase?
The percent of cells that were in the interphase stages was 56%.

2. What percent were in mitosis?
The percent that was in mitosis was 44%.

3. Which phase of mitosis takes the longest?
The phase that take the longest is prophase.

4. During which stage is the nucleolus visible as a dark spot?
The stage that the nucleolus is visible as a dark spot is interphase.

5. How can you recognize a cell in metaphase?
You can recognize that a cell is in the metaphase stage by knowing that the chromosomes are attached to the kinetochore microtubules begin to align in one phase.

So below are some pictures of other cells that I looked at through the microscope.










 

Stem Cells Webquest


Stem Cells


Research using stem cells is a controversial and often misunderstood area of modern scientific research. In this exercise you will visit the official National Institutes of Health (NIH) website on stem cell information to gain a greater understanding of the fundamentals of this topic.


Activity:

Go to the NIH site on stem cells: http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp and click on the Info Center link “Stem Cell Basics.”  Starting with the “Introduction” section, read the information presented.

Use the site’s glossary to find definitions for these important terms:

Cell-based therapies- is the treatment in which stem cells are induced to differentiate into the specific cell type required to repair damaged or destroyed cells or tissues.
Differentiation- the process whereby an unspecialized embryonic cells acquires the features of a specialized cell such as a heart, liber, or muscle cell. Differentiation is controlled by the interaction of a cell's genes with the physical and chemical conditions outside the cell, usually through signaling pathways involving proteins embedded in the cell surface.
Embryonic stem cell line- embryonic stem cells, which have been cultured under in vitro conditions that allow proliferation without differentiation from months to years.
Proliferation- expansion of the number of cells by the continuous division of single cells into two identical daughter cells.
Plasticity-
Pluripotent- the state of a single cell that is capable of differentiating into all tissues of an organism, but not alone capable of sustaining of organismal development.  


Use this site and/or other resources to figure out the basics of what stem cells are. Be able to answer these questions:

1. What are the unique properties of all stem cells?  Explain in your own words what each property means.

So the unique properties of all stem cells are they're capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods, they're unspecialized, they can rise to specialized cell type.
2. What are the two main kinds of stem cells used by researchers?  What are the major differences between the two types in terms of their sources and usefulness to researchers?  Give examples of possible uses for each type of stem cell.

The two main kinds of stem cells used by researchers are embryonic stem cells and non embryonic stem cells. The major difference between the two are their different abilities in the number and the type of cells they can become.

3. List some of the diseases that scientists think may be treated using stem cell research and suggest how stem cells might be used to treat each disease.

Three diseases that scientist think may be treated using stem cell research are diabetes, heart disease, stroke, spinal cord injury, and parkinson disease.
4. What are the necessary characteristics that laboratory-manipulated stem cells will need to have in order to be successfully used in cell-based therapies (what will stem cells need to be able to do)?

The necessary characteristics that laboratory-manipulated stem cell will need to have in order to be successfully used in cell based therapies are to create a significant amounts of tissue and they have to be able to survive after they have been transplanted in the receiver.
 


Genetics

If you click on this link you will find some definitions that we learned in the process of getting an understanding of genetics.