Drafts

I took ResEcon statistics in my Fall semester of Sophomore year. Unfortunately, I do not remember a lot about statistics. We learned about different methods of sampling. These include stratified random, simple random, cluster, and systemic sampling. We focused a lot on graphs and statistical analysis. This included understanding residuals and correlation, and linear regression. I do not remember much detail about each specific concept. We spent a good amount of the semester on probability which was pretty basic. I know a lot about probability from learning it all throughout middle school and high school. We learned about how to use p value and degrees of freedom. I do not remember the equations we used, but I know there were a few. 

Yesterday there was a lot of buzzed in the internet of how five patients went through a stem cells treatment and they showed no signs of HIV. Does this mean that the virus is not in their body anymore? Can there be a cure after all? According, to the scientific journal “Annals of Internal Medicine”, this is a great start of research that wants to determine associated factors with stem cells transplant that could help the elimination of HVI. This study is based on the peculiar case of Timothy Brown, known as the Berlin patient. 

Mammals, often characterized by the presence pf hair and mammary glands, can be divided into three sub groups; Holotherians, Metatherians, and Eutherians. Holotherians encapsulate the monotremes which are the egg laying mammals characterized by a single opening for both fecal removal and urogenital products. Examples of monotremes are platypuses and echidnas.  Metatherians are the marsupials like kangaroos, wombats, opossums, etc. They are characterized by a pouch where the fetuses attach to nipples and finish developing into adolescence. Metatherians also have an inwardly turned angular process on their lower jaws which result in limited replacement of their teeth. Lastly, Eutherians are the remaining placental organisms. While marsupials are placentals as well, eutherians have a longer gestation period and thus produce able bodied young who are at a much more advanced stage in development. Eutherians are also characterized by their tribosphenic molars, molars where the protocone is on the lingual side of the mouth (tongue) and the anterior paracone along with the posterior metacone are on buccal side of the jaw (cheek). In conclusion, while mammals are united by their hairs and mammary glands, they can be further divided using distinct characteristics that allow us the create the three groups Holotherians, Metatherians, and Eutherians.

Long term memory and short term memory are topics studied heavily in Psychology and Biology. Scientists have created many experiences to test the differences between long and short term memory. There are a lot of theories as to how pieces of your information or events go into short term of long term. For example, when given a list of names and asked to recall them from memory, it is typical that humans remember the beginning of the list and the end of the list. The idea that it would be easy to remember the first few names on a list is called the primacy effect, meaning the first couple words are stored in the long term memory. Remembering the last few words on the list is the recency effect, meaning that the words are in your recent and short term memory. In short term memory, ideas or concepts are typically remembered in chunks of 7 items, whereas long term memory has an infinite amount. This is because long term memory must be attended to and rehearsed or elaborated for some time. Short term memory is not rehearsed or elaborated therefore it is less likely to be recalled for a long time after the initial memory. This idea relates to studying; it is better to study in small chunks over a long period of time in repetition rather than cramming a night before an exam. This is because the studied material is now if the long term memory from repetition. 

Genome editing has grown quickly in such a short period of time and I feel like this rapid growth makes the ethical logistics of it that more important. We suddenly have so much access to our genes through companies such as ancestry and now we can even change these germline genes. While genome editing can be beneficial in many ways, such as help prevent/cure diseases, it is difficult to know where to draw the line. I don’t have a huge stance for or against gene editing, but I think it could get out of hand very quickly if not regulated or people aren’t informed about it. I feel like messing with and changing germline genome gives humans a lot of control over the gene pool as well as natural selection and evolution. Instead of allowing us to naturally develop and evolve, we now have the power to look at our genes and we could potentially decide how we appear and what genes we have. I feel like if gene editing continues to evolve and progress, it could potentially lead to either overpopulation or extinction of species, depending how it is used.

  In this example lambda is increasing over time. From year 2 to year 5, it increases by .21. This shows that the population is increasing. This follows what the table also shows in the other columns. For example, looking at Figure 10.8 B we see that the population size is growing. From year 1 to year 5, it increased by 1037.3 individuals. Over the years that we looked at there was a big increase at first, and then lambda started to increase by a little. If we continued the graph we would eventually reach a point that lambda remains constant- assuming our survival and fecundity rates maintain constant. 

Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the white blood cells, most often in older adults than children. The cancer is caused by a translocation event between chromosome 9 and chromosome 22. The break and results in a changed chromosome 9 and changed chromosome 22 that has the bcr-abl gene. Abl is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase protein, but the fusion with bcr disrupts regulation and increases signaling. Typically, multiple mutations occur that cause disruption and therefore cause cancer, but CML is particular in that it only requires the one mutation due to Abl having many functions and a role in important pathways like DNA damage repair. After the mutation though, it no longer does the repair and instead functions in cytoplasmic pathways like motility, survival, growth and proliferation.  

Enzymes are regulated in a variety of Reversible inhibition, which are forms of noncovalent mechanisms. These reversible inhibition methods come in Competitive, uncompetitive, noncompetitive and mixed forms. Competitive inhibition competes for the active site of the enzyme. When the inhibitor binds to the site, it blocks subtrate binding and thus activation of the enzyme activity. This may be overcome with a higher concentration of substrate. the Vmax of the enzyme is unchanged by this, though this increases the Km. Uncompetitive inhibition is when an inhibitor binds to a spot other than the active site. This only occurs when a substrate is already bound to the enzyme, but it will block further enzyme activity. This method lowers both Vmax and Km. Noncompetitive inhibition and mixed inhibition both bind whether there is a substrate bound to the enzyme or not. Thus, this cannot be overcame with a higher substrate concentration. What seperates these two methods is that during noncompetitive inhibition, Vmax will decrease, but Km will be uneffected. Mixed inhibition will decrease the Vmax as well but Km may either rase or lower depending on certain conditions.

            Your core values of Courage, Achievement, Responsibility, Respect, Integrity and Transparency are ideals that I try to embody in my everyday life, especially responsibility. I take great pride in completing projects on time and in a punctual manner. Often, especially working in groups, I set up a time line of tasks to stay on top of the project and never lose sight of the end goal. For example, while working on a Microbiology project this semester I organized a layout that allowed my team mates and I to work at our own pace while contributing to the over all project and meeting the deadline. Upon review of the final project we were given an A and the professor even applauded our diligence as she could see the steps taken to produce the presentation.

            In conclusion, I feel as though I would be an excellent fit for your company. Not only do I have the experience you require, I like to believe that I embody your core values and would be a great asset to your team. Thank you for your time and I am looking to hear from you soon about hopefully setting up an interview.

            I am very excited to apply for a position in your Bioprocessing and Cell Therapy group. During the summer of 2018 I had the pleasure of interning with your team and ever since then I have taken the skills I learned and applied them in an academic setting to bolster my knowledge of Biology and more specifically Microbiological research. Recently, I have read that your company is working on a project involving the genomic editing of gut bacteria to benefit malnourished children. During the semester I learned about the nature of the gut and the different facets of such an expansive microbiome. I find it fascinating that your team is pioneering research into such an intricate field that has yet to be fully explained.

            In your job listing it says that you are looking for someone who has experience working with bioreactors as well as other biotechnology involving cell growth. During my time interning, I was fortunate enough to get experience working with the 50-liter bio reactor so that I could proliferate a colony of mesenchymal stem cells over a period of 90 days. I was able to grow and characterize over 5 billion cells which are now being used by your company for other projects. I also was tasked with growing the same cells in a planar environment using Corning T-150 flasks which resulted in the colony expanding to 9 million cells.