Writing in Biology

The ability to change both our somatic and germ-line genomes is a very powerful tool for the human race. With this powerful tool also comes a lot of responsibility and questions on when it is acceptable to use and what is considered good or bad when gene editing. Gene therapy can definitely be abused and be dangerous if this power to change genomes is put into the wrong hands. I can see many different ways in which genome editing could go wrong and become harmful/abused. When genome editing was first introduced, I don’t think anyone really thought it would get to where it is now. It has already brought up so many ethical questions regarding natural selection, consent, disease treatment and more. I can imagine nations using genome editing to try to intentionally develop a virus/disease for warfare. Just like any new treatment such as a drug or method, there must be trials and tests carried out in order to confirm that is is safe and effective. Unfortunately, many companies are rushed due to patent applications and can lead to complications and harmful outcomes when testing. Additionally, it is difficult to fully test and know exactly what the effects of genome editing are. It seems like it would be difficult to find volunteers willing to be involved in these tests and it would be very expensive to carry out this research. I think with time, though, scientsists will be figure out ways to determine the effects of genome editing in order to make gene therapy as safe and effective as possible.

Ethically, it can be difficult to curb population growth. Some methods have been tried such as the one child law enforced in China but this is unethical. As people, it is in our nature to reproduce, so who’s to say we cannot continue to do this? Also, it can be difficult to prevent multiple pregnancies. Birth control is an effective method but there is still a slight chance that with even perfect birth control use, pregnancy can still occur. Then comes the choice of abortion, which is a different topic altogether but is against many religions, so people won’t use this method and then have to have a “secret” child. This leads to children who are neglected because their parents are limited to one child.

By generating a Lokta-Volterra model and analyzing the results of this competition, the outcome of the competition between C. maculate (Species 1) and E. Civile (Species 2) can be determined as reaching stable equilibrium. This outcome will be most likely to occur based on the data points present in the model which in turn generates isocline 1, isocline 2, and four separate arrow sets in the respective zones that all point to a central, stable equilibrium point. In Zone 1, below both of the isoclines, the populations of both competing species will increase. In Zone 2, which is found above Species 2 (E. Civile) isocline and below Species 1 (C. maculate) isocline, the population size of Species 1 will increase and the population size of Species 2 will decrease. In Zone 3, which is found above both species isoclines the population of both Species 1 and Species 2 will decrease. In Zone 4, which is found above Species 1 isocline and below Species 2 isocline the population size of Species 1 will decrease and the population size of Species 2 will increase.

The article "Protective systems of immunocompetant organs in fishes from different ecological and systematic groups" by Lapivora et al., discusses the different factors which influence how the immune, antioxidant and monooxygenease systems function within fish. The species examined in this study were the Nothern Pike, Zander and Bream. These fish were caught in the tributary of the Rybinsk resivour and placed in aquariums for at least 1 day after catching to reduce stress. Fish were then evicerated, and had their organs (speel, liver and kidneys) frozen. Ratios of organ weight to body weight were taken as a condition factor. Samples of these organs were taken, stains and smears done and mitochondrial fractioning processed. The bream had the most different ratio of immune system cells, while pike and zander were fairly similar. This may be due to their similar diet and overall function. Both the Zander and pike are predetory pirciverous fish. Thus they need higher amounts of immune system cells to protect against infection which may be obtained from prey they eat. Bream however are more sedentary and benthophagic, thus this increased immune system is not as necessary.

There are three main types of microtubules, which perform different functions in the cell and occur during different phases in cell division. Aster microtubules extend from the spindle pole towards the cell cortex. Motor proteins attach themselves and exert an outward pulling force on the spindle poles to help position the poles correctly and pull the poles apart in anaphase B. The second type of microtubule is the kinetochore microtubule which connect the chromosome to the spindle pole and exerts a pulling force on the chromosome in anaphase A. The third type of microtubule is the interpolar microtubule, which overlaps microtubules in the center of the spindle. The proteins that bind here are important in stabilizing the spindle. These microtubules and their respective tasks are important to the phases of anaphase. Anaphase A involves the chromosomes being pulled poleward by the shortening of the kinetochore microtubules. Anaphase B involves the poles themselves as they are pushed and pulled apart. A sliding force is generated between interpolar microtubules to push the poles apart, while a pulling force acts directly on the poles to pull them apart.

                Oropendola is a family of song bird in the tropics which branches into three distinct genera. Each of which have been the focus of vocal study and patterns in their song structure. Of the three genera, 32 different song structures have been analyzed and show little to no variation between the selective species. To bolster these findings, the songs of the birds were mapped onto a molecular phylogeny. This was done to look for analytical data in relation to retention, convergence, conservation, and reversal. Once analyzed, it was proven that between the species, the characteristics of song are highly conserved in the phylogeny. Roughly two thirds of the variations showed no signs of convergence or reversal. These finding show that song selection in Oropendola is not unique to the species, rather it is a familial song and thus traveling flocks are able to intercommunicate with other species.

The graph for biome 1 shows seasonal variation, with the winters having below freezing temperatures and the summers ranging in temperatures between 20-30 degrees celsius.  The biome on this new planet has slightly warmer summers than this earth biome but follows a similar pattern. This biome also has more rainfall on average than earth but again, has a similar seasonal pattern. You would expect this biome to be located around 30-50 degrees latitude. On earth, this type of biome is found mostly in the northern hemisphere because the southern hemisphere lacks the landmass needed, however, since we don’t know of any land differences between the northern and southern hemisphere of this planet, it can be expected in both hemispheres. You would also expect to find plants with deciduous leaves, so they loose their leaves in the sub freezing winters. Because there is such variety seasonally, the plants would likely be well adapted to seasonal change. On earth, you find maple, birch and many other types of trees so you might find similar trees in this new biome. There is more rainfall as well so it might be expected to contain larger trees.

There are however some important  articles that show this potential genetic altering can be beneficial, such as the baby born with three parents. I know this is likely a point of argument, but I guess I “believe” in natural selection, and if someone was meant to have children, they would. Although this child was quite literally a miracle, the mother had previously lost four other children. I’m not sure how ethical my reasoning is here, and I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve to have this child, but I don’t believe we, as a race, should be altering our DNA in a way that allows us to reproduce, when clearly we shouldn’t. When you think about the population size, imagine if everyone that couldn’t physically reproduce healthy children, went through a similar process to have children. We would run out of room on this planet. This doesn’t sound quite moral, but we have processes such as natural selection for reason, meaning the most fit of our population should reproduce, and those who can’t, shouldn’t.     

Web-building spiders are sit-and-wait foragers. This means that they are relatively inactive and create traps for their preys. Spiders strategize the location and density of their web to maximize the number of prey that are captured. The types of insects spiders capture are attracted to light. Most spiders will build their web close to a light source to increase their probability of catching the maximum amount of prey. In addition, spiders may be genetically determined to be attracted to light because they use reflected moonlight to find high insect densities (Heiling 1999).

To remember the difference between discrete and continuous variables, I think of discrete as black and white and I think of continuous variables like a gray scale. probability is on a scale from 0-1. The closer a probability is to 1, the more likely it is to occur. Probability can be very helpful in many different topics, such as statistics. I don't know how probability will apply to physics, but I am curious to find out. Gibbs Free energy gives us information about a reaction. A positive Gibbs free energy means it is a non spontaneous reaction and requires energy to be put in for it to occur. A negative Gibbs free energy indicates that it is a spontaneous, or exothermic reaction and releases energy. To remember the difference between microstate and macrostate, micro is more specific and involves the specific make up or order of a system. The macrostate is the bigger picture, so it is the overall makeup or ratio of a system. Because of this, several different microstates can make the same macrostate.  A large number of particles is a very relative term. I looked it up and didn't find anything that defined what a large number of particles is. I, however, would assume it would be closer to infinity. Since one mole has about 6.022e23 molecules in it, I would assume you would need many more moles/molecules to have a large number of particles.