Writing in Biology

In one specific case, an antibody was created to attack the protein TNFR2 that is common in large amounts of tumor cells. Interestingly enough it is also found on an immune cells that prevents the immune system of a person with cancer from attacking the cancer. In the study the researchers used the TNFR2 antibodies to treat ovarian cancer (NCI Staff 2017). Dr. Farkas’ research is both alike and different from this research in that it utilizes a delivery system to target NPSCs to markers of cancer antigens, using a co-delivery system of therapy just as ADCs do. Once again, if the biomolecular process is completely understood, recent ADC application has proven that such nanoparticle stabilized capsules made from gold and nucleic acids at least in theory will be effective. Thus, the same ideological methodology is being utilized already in medicine, but this process could prove to be more safe and useful due to the material of the delivery system.

This chapter included two examples of lab reports. The first one was a typical lab report written during an undergraduate biochemistry lab that particular week. The second lab report was for a much longer inquiry-based microbiology project. The weekly lab report is less formal, more “raw” and probably not as detailed as the second report. It appears that the abstracts of both of the papers follow the same format and contain all the necessities. The differences start to appear in the introduction. The weekly lab report contains less background information therefore it contains a more thorough explanation of purpose and a general overview of the experiment. Both of the materials and methods provide the steps and purpose of the method. I didn’t expect to see calculation and formula steps but considering this is a short lab report and is not as formal, it is acceptable. Also, lab reports such as the first one usually include raw data (and calculations) to let the instructor evaluate howw you arrived at your conclusions and your thinking process. I didn’t see any citations for other sources. The results and discussion section were combined which allowed the student to state and interpret their findings and discuss possible limitations and answer any questions that were asked by the instructor. There is no comparing and contrasting with other sources and there is no “conclusion” paragraph.
For the longer report, there is a more informative paragraph. The introduction contains a paragraph of background information and citations, it is much longer, the unknown is stated, the purpose is clearly stated in the last paragraph and so is the experimental approach. There are separate titled sections in the Materials section and provide enough details so that someone else can repeat the experiment. For every experimental approach, potential outcomes and their meaning are described. The results section is very long and also subdivided into sections. It is important to follow the order of content that was presented in the materials and methods section. Figure titles start with a short title and additional information such as explanations or abbrevations. The first paragraph in the discussion section contains main findings. This section also compares and contrasts the stdy with others in the field. Last paragraph summarizes results, provides the conclusion and significance.

Stable isotope analysis is a revlutionary analytical process that has several implications on both the ornithological field and conservative movements worlwide. This technique allows for the analysis of isotope concentrations that collect in the tissues of species following meals and this information can be used to make inferences on location given the geographic predicatilbity of these isotopope concentrations. This is atypically powerful with avian species as their feathers are unique and metabollicaly inert once they reach maturity. Similar to fossills, this leaves a lasitng mark that can be analyzed months after the standard isotopes would have naturally been released in normal tissues. Conservatonalist advocates have used this evidence to support movements for the protection breeding and molting grounds that can be thousands of miles away from the speices that are affected by their destruction.

I searched for the native origins of Camellia Japonica online. I went on “wikimedia commons” and searched “blank world map with countries.” I chose the first map that came up. I downloaded it in large size. I downloaded Inkscape and imported the downloaded picture into Inkscape by going to “File” and “Import.” I clicked “Fill bounded areas” on the left side column and clicked on the magenta color at the bottom. I clicked on the native origins of the plant which included Japan, China, and both Koreas. I put in 1200 px for the “W” box at the top. I put -100 for the “Y” box and -800 for the “X” box. I went to “File” and clicked “Export PNG Image.” A box popped up on the right side and I clicked on “Export” that had a green check mark next to it. The image saved to my desktop and I renamed it as my username-original.png.

At the top of the panel are the two pictures of the plant taken from the greenhouse. The measurements taken are added to the picture by using a photo editor to draw a reference line with these measurements included. These lines are necessary to give the reader a perspective of the magnitude and size of the flower and plant. The origin map was made on an app called Inkscape and occupies the bottom half of the figure. The map is constructed by starting off with a blank world map, with the individual countries given. From there, the countries that were previously researched are colored in on the blank map. These three figures are put into a 1200 x 1200 pixel google slide, serving as the figure constraints. Each figure was labeled with a unique letter. The final multipanel figure consists of three figures, one picture of the entire plant, one close-up of a flower, and a origin map of the plant.

At the top of the panel are the two pictures of the plant taken from the greenhouse. The measurements taken are added to the picture by using a photo editor to draw a reference line with these measurements included. These lines are necessary to give the reader a perspective of the magnitude and size of the flower and plant.

The species of plant that is being observed is the Camellia Japonica Napoleon. This plant is located at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Durfee Conservatory & Garden. The greenhouse is in between the morrill science buildings and the university health center. Facing the morrill science buildings is an entrance to the greenhouse, where the different kinds of Camellia Japonica are found on the right immediately after entering the greenhouse. The Camellia Japonica Napoleon is the second to last tree from the entrance. Two pictures are taken: a close-up picture of an individual flower and a picture of the entire plant. The close-up of the individual flower includes a fully blossomed flower. The fully blossomed flower is pink in color and has multiple layers of petals. Measurements of the flower size is taken with a ruler in centimeters and is recorded for future reference. The picture of the entire plant is taken from a distance at a vertical angle in which the plant is in between the entrance and the camera. The size of the entire plant is estimated by standing next to the plant. Along with the two pictures obtained from the Durfee Conservatory & Garden, is a world map showing the origins of the Camellia Japonica Napoleon plant. This information is found by researching the origins of the Camellia Japonica family, rather than the specific individual Napoleon subspecies.

Podos states that his findings were consistent with the proposed vocal constraint hypothesis, which essentially states that as beak size changes, various levels of beak mobility will in turn change song quality and sound. His data suggests that the change in sound was correlated to both beak size as well as mass, however he later presented contrary evidence for the mass’s effect on this. He then proposes that several factors, including resource changes leading to beak size adaptation, as well as cultural evolution and various acoustic environment. Finally, he suggests that the importance of prezygotic isolating mechanisms (mating songs) are indirectly influenced by adaptive diversity of beaks. This particular experimental group is powerful as there is a high number of species within a relatively small area and opportunity for hybridization. Despite this, there has been rapid speciation and he believes that his songs help ensure “correct” mating occurs.

Owens, Casey, et al. “Fecal Microbiota Transplantation and Donor Standardization.” Trends in Microbiology, vol. 21, no. 9, Sept.2013, pp. 443-445., doi:10.1016/j.tim.2013.07.003.

http://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/fulltext/S0966-842X(13)00133-9

News

The article goes into detail on the process of fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and the reason that they are so beneficial to treating certain diseases in the colon. The article specifically goes over Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) which causes diarrhea, bloating, bloody stool, and ulcerative colitis. In the past this was treated with only antibiotics, however, it had a slight chance of reoccurring in patients. Patients who have multiple cases of reoccurring CDI are advised to get an FMT. The article mentions that 81% of reoccurring patients that were treated with one FMT recovered from CDI compared to 31% recovery in patients that were just treated with vancomycin for CDI. The actual procedure for the transplant is very easy usually doctors can do it at the end of a colonoscopy, or they insert a tube through the mouth or nose and transplant it in the small intestines. The part of the procedure that is complicated is obtaining the fecal microbiota.

Feces can either come from a close family member or friend or they can come from an unknown donor. The donor must be screened for any infectious diseases such as hepatitis A and B, HIV, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and syphilis this is to ensure that the patient does not contract anything from the transplant. The FMT is so important to treating people with CDI because it helps to reestablish beneficial and essential microbiota that the antibiotics would have removed. This makes fighting off any residual C. difficile much easier for the patient and is why there are higher rates of recovery than just treating patients with an antibiotic.

Plants extract nutrients from the soil in order to survive. Not all nutrients are alike however. Some nutrients are water soluble, while others are not. Some nutrients are charged and thus difficult to move around in the soil. These factors can make it difficult for the plant to get these nutrients from the soil. Luckily the plant has deceloped ways in order to extrac to these pesky nutrients from the soil. One major way plants extract difficult nutrients from the soil is by guided root proliferation. The roots simply grow towards nutrients once the zone they occupy has been depleted. Another way that plants can extract nutrients from the soil is by excreting H+ ions into the soil. These H+ ions help to break down the nutrients and make them more soluble/easier to move. These methods have greatly helped in the plant's survival by gather all necessary nutrients.