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CRISPR CAS 9

Submitted by jkswanson on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 21:21

A major breakthrough may have just taken place in the genetic industry as a chinese company says that they have used CRISPR CAS 9 to take a human embryo and basically duplicate it to make two identical twins.  This is a really huge breakthrough for the ability of what CRISPR CAS 9 can do but  the question that now arises, is it ethical.  This is a ahard question to answer as human life is a natural occuring process that's has remained untouched until very recently.  These new experiments show how we are capable of so much using this CRISPR CAS 9, not soon in our future will we see technology with the ability to edit the huan embryo genome to get rid of disease, predetermine a height or a sex, or even design an entire life form to be advangtagous in everywhich way. The question still remains, is it ethical?  In my opinion it is a very much case by case thing, if a fetus is confirmed to have a disease and you have the asy option to edit the genome and basically get ird of that disease, wouldn't that be the most ethical thing to do.  It brings back the idea that life is something that should be untouched and unedited becuase that is how it has always been. Some may use that to argue diseases are needed, that it is a way of life.  I disagree, for thousands of years technology has been changing the way we do things and I think that once we are smart enough to safely do these things with CRSPR CAS 9 or other technology then I think it should be allowed.  It is just another huge technological advancement.  Humans used to give birth in the wild before civilizations were a thing and slowly over time we have developed more and more technology to make the process safer and easier. Drugs, rooms, equipment, knowlegde have all been a huge help in the safety of human birth and this is just another one of those advancements.

 

results section draft+ final draft

Submitted by jkswanson on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 21:06

RESULTS:

Day 1:








Procedure

top

bottom

Red

Yellow

No light

No light

(x dimension)

0

0

3

3

.5

3

(y dimension)

3.5

3

1

0

0

1

(z dimension)

2

6

2

2

0

1

Web presence

no

no

yes

no

yes

yes

The spiders were not moving until the ziploc container started to be moved then they would go in the opposite direction of wherever you are contacting the outside of the container

Day 2:








Procedure

Top

Bottom

Red

Yellow

No light

No light

X dimension (cm)

1

2

0

1.5

1.5

0

Y dimension (cm)

2.5

3.5

0

.5

0

1

Z dimension (cm)

3

5

1.5

2

0

2

Web presence

     

yes

yes

yes

Day 3:








Procedure

Top(yellow)

Bottom

Red

Yellow

No light

No light

X dimension (cm)

7 spider was dead

4.5

5

3

0

0

Y dimension (cm)

0

0

3.5

1

1

1

Z dimension (cm)

3

2.5

1

0

0

1

Web presence

No

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

AVG 








Procedure

Top (yellow)

Bottom (yellow)

Red

Yellow

No color

No color

AVG x dimension

2.66

2.16

2.66

2.5

0.66

1

AVG y dimension

2

2.16

1.5

0.5

0.33

1

AVG z dimension

2.66

4.5

1.5

1.33

0

1.33

Webs: distance from the LED

Top: No it is dead

Bottom: 1cm between the two sticks

Red: 0 cm starts at LED goes to edge

Yellow: 0 cm starts at LED goes to other breathe hole

No light 1: 0 cm web on and around LED

No light 2: 0 cm big web right against LED, second spider?

 

conclusion shortened draft

Submitted by jkswanson on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 21:04

The goal of this experiment was to determine whether the presence of LED light changes the behavior and web production of cellar spiders.  The data we collected supports the prediction that cellar spiders reside farther from the LED light. The data contradicts the portion of the prediction that the light decreases a spider’s web production. The data reveals that the cellar spider’s webs were found close, if not attached, to the LED light. Ultimately, cellar spiders tend to make their webs close to an LED light. There was not enough data to determine whether the color or presence of an LED light affected the production or density of their webs.

 

prompt

Submitted by kruzzoli on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 21:02
  • Another study that was conducted that explored a relationship between spider weight and spider silk thickness produced nonlinear results. There was not a strong relationship present between the weight of the spider and the thickness of the silk. This study looked at four different species of spiders and in each case, no relationship existed. In Araneus diadematus, 5 spiders were tested and the thickness of silk was random and could not be predicted based on the weight. In Nephila edulis, both spiders had the same silk thickness of 2.7 μm even though one spider was 206 mg heavier. In Latrodectus mactans, the thickness of the silk varied among the three spiders used but had no pattern present. The last species, euprosthenops sp, both had a silk thickness of 2.0 μm, however one spider was 505 mg heavier than the other spider. From this data, there is no relationship between the weight and thickness of the silk. The thickness of the silk might be consistent among all spider in certain species as seen in Nephila edulis and Euprosthenops sp, but a relationship between spider silk thickness and spider body weight does not exist.

figure and table legend draft

Submitted by jkswanson on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 21:02

Figure 2 shows the setup of the 9 volt battery, alligator clamps, the resistor, and the LED on the outside of the ziploc chamber.

 

Figure 1 is a basic LED and 9 volt battery circuit, this is the circuit model that was followed for this experiment.

 

Table 1 is an Avg. of the distance of the spider from the LED in three days in each habitat. The web presence was also recorded and briefly described.  

 

Research Project - Research Design PP Part #3

Submitted by sbrownstein on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 19:15

After collecting the data over a two-day time period. Record on an Excel sheet and compare to other projects. The excel sheet should include the distance(in cm) of the spider from the LED light (in the x,y,and z dimension), and the diameter of the web, if present at all. This will be recorded with a ruler from outside the container.  Pictures of the spider best depicting its distance from the LED can be taken for reference. Determine whether the light, time exposure, length, color, brightness, or species of spider had any effect on presence of webs in the chamber. This is done by comparing each project results to one another and deciding whether the web that was produced was influenced by the light that was exposed to the spider. If the spider was attracted to the light, then the distance of the web from the light should be smaller than if the spider was not attracted to the web.

Soil Carbon

Submitted by bthoole on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 19:06

The way that the soil is treated determines the ability it has to affect the cycle carbon. Carbon naturally cycles in and out of the soil, which is why agricultural lands are considered to be one of the major sinks of carbon. With that, comes the responsibility to suitably manage the land to improve the carbon sequestration and reduce any emissions that come from the land. However, agriculture is currently the third largest source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases that are released. To better understand how the land can be better managed for sequestration, it is necessary to understand how it currently managed to result in these large emissions. One of the largest culprits is the practice of liming soils, with the IPCC estimating that nearly 100% of the carbon stored in soils that are treated with lime is released as carbon dioxide. Lime and other fertilizers are applied to these soils to better crop production by changing the pH of the soil or providing necessary elemental nutrients like calcium or phosphorous that are commonly deficient in acidic soils. Often, limestone and dolomite are used as the sources of lime, which as discussed above also release carbon dioxide as they are broken and crushed. It has no been investigated whether this crushing could be coupled with a carbon capture technique, but studies have been done on how liming affects the release of carbon dioxide in soils treated with phosphate solubilizing bacteria and other phosphorous sources.

draft

Submitted by amdicicco on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 15:11

To collect data we took measurements once a day for eight days in a row. Everyday we collected two measurements. The first measurement was what color side the spider was on when we first entered the room and before interacting with the spider. The second measurement was taken after moving the spider to the middle of the tank where the colors met. We gave the spiders a ten minute rest period before taking and recording the data on which color side background the spider chose.

 

draft

Submitted by amdicicco on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 15:10

 

We chose to test the colors white versus yellow and cyan versus green in our experiment. Some species of crab spiders are able to change their color from white to yellow, and yellow to white. We decided to use white and yellow as a control in our experiment and see which side the spiders would prefer. The color white is made up of red, green and blue all at their highest intensities which is 255 in the RGB color model. Yellow is made up of red and green both at their highest intensities of 255, with no blue is added. The next set-up contained cyan and green. Cyan is made up of green and blue both at their highest intensities of 255, and no addition of red. Green is made up of only green at its highest intensity of 255.

 

draft

Submitted by amdicicco on Thu, 12/06/2018 - 15:10

 

We chose to test the colors white versus yellow and cyan versus green in our experiment. Some species of crab spiders are able to change their color from white to yellow, and yellow to white. We decided to use white and yellow as a control in our experiment and see which side the spiders would prefer. The color white is made up of red, green and blue all at their highest intensities which is 255 in the RGB color model. Yellow is made up of red and green both at their highest intensities of 255, with no blue is added. The next set-up contained cyan and green. Cyan is made up of green and blue both at their highest intensities of 255, and no addition of red. Green is made up of only green at its highest intensity of 255.

 

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