Writing in Biology - Section 1

Today one of my classes discussed GMOs and my professor purposefully made it a point to tip-toe around the debatable aspects of the modifications and methods of use while teaching the topic. Me being an aries would have prefered the debate, so instead I'll write my thoughts here. Firstly, the FDA finding the GMOs are not inherently dangerous and do not need to be regulated proves that the federal goverment needs more education. I agree that GMOs are not inherently dangerous, but they absolutely should be regulated by genetisists because modifying the DNA of an organism to be grown in exposed fields and allowed to contaminate nature and the endogenous genome of other organisms in the proximatey is highly dangerous. It is known that some species of GMOs are able to cross breed with weeds and like organisms in their original environments. This means that another organism's DNA can be crossed into uncontrolled species in the wild. Also, GMOs can cause very legitimate problems in the diversity of a species. If all the different alleles of a farm grown species were cut down to a single allele that was controlled because it produced the most wanted product, it presents real issues. The possibility of complete wipeout from a new disease or virus that affects the plants is a reality that people need to be aware of. 

Kombucha is a fermented tea, usually black or green tea, that has a very low alcohol content of less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. In many cases, it is used for supplemental or medicinal purposes and due to the low alcohol content is commercially sold in many grocery and convenient stores. Kombucha is fermented with several different species of yeasts and acid bacteria such as such as Bacterium xylinum, Bacterium xylinoides, Bacterium gluconicum, Saccharomyces ludwigii, Saccharomyces apiculatus varieties, Schizosaccaromyces pombe, Acetobacter ketogenum , Torula varieties , Pichia fermantans (Gharib, 2009). Research has shown that the organic acids, enzymes, and vitamins produced by the fermentation process have some health benefits. Kombucha may aide digestion, avert cardiovascular disease, reduce inflammation, aide in immune support and even divert some forms of cancer. Overall, kombucha is a new health fad that has some research to support its health benefits.

Gharib, Ola Ali. "Effects of Kombucha on oxidative stress induced nephrotoxicity in rats." Chinese Medicine, vol. 4, 2009, p. 23. Gale OneFile: Health                      and Medicine, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A213497834/HRCA?u=mlin_w_umassamh&sid=HRC.... Accessed 17 Sept. 2019.

As soon we take one look at food, our salivary glands are at work to produce saliva mixed with enzymes to start breaking down carbohydrates. Our teeth play a major role in mechanical digestion to form a paste out of the food we are chewing, making it easier for us to swallow the food bolus down our esophagus. Due to peristalsis, the food bolus keeps moving down to the stomach, where gastric acid kills any bacteria or germs and the food is churned to make it more liquid. The food passes down to the duodenum. Pancreatic enzymes further break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The fat gets emulsified by the bile from the gall bladder to help in digestion. The smaller molecules move down to the small ileum and get absorbed by the blood vessels and sent to the liver to get sorted. Water is absorbed by the colon and the undigested food is egested through large intestine. 

Sound perception and production in birds, especially oscines, has been the subject of much research. Birds’ singing and song learning systems have been studied from perspectives ranging from mechanical through neurological to social and adaptive. Mechanically speaking, birds produce song via the syrinx, an analog to the human larynx. Found at the entrance of the bronchioles, the syrinx is a group of connective tissues, cartilage rings, and membranes that vibrate in concert to produce sound. Sound itself comes not from the vibration of the medial tympaniform membranes but from connective tissue at the end of each bronchus that sticks into the syringeal lumen. From a neurological point of view, bird song perception, production, and learning originates in a series of neuronal nuclei heretofore referred to as the song pathway. Perception of song begins in auditory field L in conjunction with the NCM and CMM areas. These signals are then passed through the HVC, area X, LMAN, and DLM which all have song selective neurons that discriminate between different song types. Song production also comes from the song pathway and uses the same nuclei. Firstly, main auditory field L projects to both the HVC and RA, and the HVC itself projects to the RA. Secondly, from the RA is a projection to nXIIts, from which there is direct innervation of the syrinx, and thus, song production. Song learning also takes place in the song pathway, though this is less well understood and seems to have to do with the expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) such as ZENK in different neuronal nuclei depending on the acoustic environment.

in the article and the data set that was studied in class so far, the data indicated that in patients with FH, they have a receptor lacking which allows them to take up LDL, which contains cholesterol into their bodies. This is partically because they have a mutation that prevents them from having a functional receptor. On the other hand of the spectrum are patients who do not produce LDL that can be absorbed into the body. Because these two mutations both end up having the same effects, namely neither one of them is able to get into the cell, the body reacts in similar ways, with patients that have FH and malfunctioning LDL both having a higher amount of cholesterol in the blood compared to a normal person. Because of the high cholesterol, these people are also more likely to get heart diseases and are at risk for cardiac arrest. However, the degree to which the person suffers differ depending on which mutation type that person has. If the person has a malfunctioning LDL, they are more likely to have heart disease and high cholesterol, but they are noticeably less severe compared to people who have an FH mutation. People who have this mutation, especially those that are homozygote for it is very likely to have cardiac arrests in their 40s if they are het and in their teenage years if they are mut for the gene. It is interesting to note that even though the mutation does have similar effects, the overall effect on the entire system is completely different. Trying to determine the cause of why such a thing happens is both a scientific and logical feat in which the research will need to be explained and the reason why such a result will mean that the evidence supports one side of the proposed reason over another one. Personally, I think that this is one of the most difficult things in doing research. the techniques are relatively easy once a person gets used to it, but trying to prove something to be true through logic is still difficult. For example, darwins theory of evolution is logical to the point that if all facts were removed from it it would all make sense. All it needs to be done now is to just prove the basis of the logic to be correct, and the theory has to be correct.

Vaccinations have been a major advancement in public health, saving countless lives from diseases that once devastated populations. So how has this marvel of modern medicine become such a controversial topic of today's society? How have vaccines gone from life-saving preventative medicine to autism inducing, heavy metal dumping poison shots? People may claim it started with Jenny McCarthy, who cited fraudulent research compiled by ex-physician Andrew Wakefield. That may be a factor, certainly, but the issues are much deeper. The truth is that people simply do not trust conventional medicine anymore. This could be due to many facets of medicine today, such as large government oversight, consolidation of drug companies, or just hesitation to blindly trust medical professionals. It may be easy to simply brandish these vaccine deniers as uneducated, but that simply isn't the case. The fact is that there is a lot of complex chemistry and biology that one must comprehend fully to truly understand the efficacy of vaccines. I believe that every American should have a better understanding of public health, and that includes vaccines. A college or high school requirement of basic public health would, I believe, ease this distrust of conventional medicine and allow people to see the benefits of vaccines and proper preventative care.

The Melospiza georgiana, more commonly known as the swamp sparrow, resides in sedge swamps that include cat tails, tussocks and various shrubs. Swamp sparrows eat insects and seeds and can be found foraging on mud at the edge of the water as well as flying from shrub to shrub; often shrubs are no more than 1.5-2 meters high. They can be found in New England year-round and breeding occurs sometime between April and June.

 Male swamp sparrows sing which attract female mates. Males will attract a mate to a territory that to which he claims. The male will chase out any intruding males within his territory, often with the help of his female. During the spring months, swamp sparrows can be observed gathering materials for nest making, copulating, and foraging within their territories. Swamp sparrows tend to build their nests off the ground in a low growth shrub. They cover their nest with grasses to camouflage it. With the nest being a little higher than ground level, there’s plenty of room for the water level in the swamp to rise and fall as precipitation occurs. Swamp sparrows usually lay between 4-5 eggs in a nest. Only females incubate the eggs while the male brings food to the female.

After the eggs have hatched, usually after 12-13 days of incubating, both males and females will feed the young. The young are altricial, meaning they are extremely vulnerable, unable to walk, fly or feed themselves. The young may leave the nest after about 10-13 days after hatching. Swamp sparrows may have up to two broods during a season.

Bodily processes in animals are controlled hormones secreted by the endocrine system, which reach target areas and relay ‘messages’ through either the hemolymph in invertebrates or blood in vertebrates. Some of these processes include the regulation of metabolism, growth, and fertility(). Understanding these processes and how altering them changes outcomes in model organisms is useful to vicariously understand of. Testing on humans can have many ethical problems, so model organisms are therefore used in laboratories instead of humans. Drosophila Melanogaster, also commonly known as a fruit D. Melanogaster, is one such model organism. They are versatile so a variety of testing can be done on them, they are inexpensive to culture, they have short lifespans, they produce many external offspring at one time, and their life cycles have been extensively mapped. The hormone which will be tested on D. Melanogaster in this lab is a juvenile hormone. It has been found to be present in D. Melanogaster mainly during the larval and pupal stage and the effects it has are what our group aims to determine.

D. Melanogaster begins their life cycles as eggs laid by adult females on fruits and are ovoid in shape. Every stage is regulated with hormones that regulate every process that occurs. Once the egg stage is nearing completion it begins the larval stage which can further be broken down into three instars separated by molting events. At the first and second instar, the larva consumes until molting, at which point it increases in size and grows for the next stage. Once at the third instar it consumes until ready to pupate. The third instar larva leaves their area of consumption for a drier environment at which point they cease moving and harden their cuticle, a thin outer layer of the larval body. The pupa remains in this stage until larval tissues have been broken down and are ready to enter the next stage, Adulthood. At Adulthood D. Melanogaster begin the mating process in which a male inseminates a female with sperm which the female stores for egg laying at a later time.

The taste of an exceptional tomato sauce must contain subtle hints of flavory as to not overpower the main showrunner of a meal. To achieve the proper flavor, proper ingredients must first be obtained. Cento brand canned tomatoes and fresh basil are the most essential ingredients. The rest of the ingredients, garlic, olive oil, and italian seasoning, do not require a specific brand or level of freshness to create a decadent sauce. Start by adding 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 pieces of garlic chopped up to a medium sized saucepan. Once the garlic appears slightly caramelized, pour in the can of tomatoes and fill the empty can halfway with water then add that as well to the saucepan. After mixing, add one or two fresh basil leaves. Let the sauce simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes. The longer the sauce has to simmer the better it will turn out. Salt and season 

I arrive on campus every Wednesday at around 9:10 am for my 9:25am physics lecture. During this class period, my table group and I work on word problems similar to the ones that will be on exams for practice. When this class ends at 10:40, my next class isn't until 12:20, so I have time in between to work om some homework. I usually stop working at around 11:30 to go to Blue Wall to grab lunch with a friend. After eating my rice bowl with chicken, I head over to the Morrill Science I where I have a genetics class. This lecture requires more note taking than the physics lecture. Class ends at 1:10 and I immediately walk to the ISB for my biology lab class that begins at 1:25. The work done in this lab varies on what the protocol calls for. For example, last week during lab, I dissected zebrafish brain and treated zebrafish with different drugs to continue the overall experiement for the semester. At 5:25, when lab is over, I walk to Blue Wall to eat dinner before heading back to my apartment to finally get a chance to relax.