Writing in Biology

Photosynthesis is an essential reaction in order for sustainable life. The products of the essential reaction include oxygen and glucose. Besides the obvious benefits in the production of glucose and oxygen these products prove to have many important functions within the cell. The glucose produced from the reaction is converted into storable starch. This starch can then enter the plasma membrane where it interacts with the cellulose synthesis complex. The product of this interaction is cellulose, the most prominent and strongest component of the cell wall. Considering that cellulose is the most prominent component of the cell wall and is present in the majority of plants in the world many scientists consider it one of the most abundant organic compound on earth. Cellulose is also a large source of fiber in the average humans diet.

            Setting up sand bath is the first thing to do, turning it up to about 30 but not higher. Weigh and take about ground nutmeg (1g). Then use a round-bottomed flask and with the help of a funnel, transfer the nutmeg over into the flask. Add tert-butyl methyl ether (3 mL) and add a few boiling chips. Use plastic connector then distillate using air condenser. Use the small three-pronged clamp to help assist. Allow the mixture to boil very gently and the mixture with nutmeg will boil violently. Make sure it doesn’t bump out of the flask.  Heat it for about 10 minutes then remove from the heat and let it sit to cool down. Micro-scale filtration needs to be done after using a tiny plug of cotton in a glass pipet. Also, use a clean and dry Erlenmeyer flask (25 mL) Once it is all done, remove the condenser, tip the round-bottomed flask and transfer it over to the top of the filtration apparatus. Let gravity take care of the rest, but when it becomes slower, gently squeeze to apply pressure to complete the filtration. After repeating to get everything transferred out, add fresh tert-butyl methyl ether (2 mL) and do the same steps. That is called rinsing. It will help ensure that no trimyristin is left behind. Use gentle stream of air over the solution so all the solvent will evaporate. Yellowish solid should now remain. This is the crude trimyristin. Raise the sand bath to 30 again and recrystallize trimyristin. Crude trimyristin should be air dried for another 5 minutes. Then add acetone (1 mL) per crude (50 mg). Crystals should now start forming, but if it is not then scratch the inside surface a bit with glass stirring rod. Use ice water bath and let it sit for 15 minutes. Collect crystals now by vacuum filtration. Cover the crystals with ice-cold acetone (1 mL) and allow air to pass over the crystals. Hydrolysis now must happen using trimyristin (60 mg) and use new clean RB flask. Add 6 M sodium hydroxide (2 mL) and 95% ethanol (2 mL). Use boiling chips once again and put it on the sand bath for 45 minutes. During hydrolysis time, recrystallize the remaining trimyristin a second time but do it with room temperature for 10 minutes. Collect the MP and weight.  After 45 minutes passes by, allow the flask to cool to room temperature and put it in a beaker with water (8 mL). Then carefully drop hydrogen chloride (2 mL), myristic acid should disappear by precipitation. Cool the beaker after for 10 minutes and stir it. Filtration happens and crystals starts to show. Let it dry overnight and weigh it and take MP (also the % yield).

For the Endospore Formation Lab, I hypothesized that the endospores observed under the phase contrast microscope would have fewer colonies and less variety after pasteurization. These results are expected because endospores can withstand excessive heat, giving them a competitive advantage over bacteria that can hardly form endospores, thus killing the vegetative cells. As the formation of a rich nutrient environment will allow bacteria to grow, once the process of pasteurization occurs the bacteria that have not formed endospores will die and the bacteria that have formed endospores will prosper.

In this study we propose to investigate the effects of urbanization on the density and diversity of periphyton in the Sylvan Stream. Periphyton are indicators of aquatic environmental conditions and serve as the primary producers in freshwater food webs. In this experiment, there will be 8 teams that will sample different sites along the Sylvan Stream.  The 8 sites of collection will span 800 m of the river starting 15 m from Sylvan Residential Area. Microscope slides will be used as a surface by which to collect periphyton over the course of two weeks. The collected slides will be analyzed by light microscope and compared. As a result of this experiment, we hope to provide insight about local effects of pollution radiating from a point of origin on nearby watershed.

The melting point of this recrystallization could not be obtained due to the fact that no melting was observed after it was heated to 160 °C. This could be due to impurities, contamination, or the incorrect measurement of reactants. The second recrystallization’s MP shoulder higher because more impurities should be removed after the second recrystallization, however it should only be higher by a couple degrees. Trimyristin is a saturated fat found in coconut oil, palm oil, and nutmeg. Through hydrolysis of trimyristin, myristic acid was obtained. Myristic acid is a fatty acid commonly found in coconut oil, palm oil, and other beauty products, and because of this it is vital to obtain the purest form of myristic acid during isolation. This is why it is best to obtain myristic acid from natural sources.

Summary of Persson and Savulescu: “Moral Transhumanism

In this article, Persson and Savulescu discuss moral transhumanism by evaluating what is means to be part of the human species, the human moral psych, and societies moral shortcomings, all in an effort to show the importance of enhancing humans’ moral ability.

1.      The Superficiality of Species Membership

Persson and Savulescu begin their argument by highlighting that the way we view species membership is full of paradoxes and counterintuitive ideas.

-        They begin by explaining that humans as a whole view our membership of the Homo sapiens species to give us some sort of especially high moral status. The authors argue that this ideology thus makes the claim that species membership is an essential property of an organism that determines its nature.

In honor of a belated April fools day the Journal of Ethics published a short research article describing the extensive benefits of laughter. Laughter is good for the soul is a common saying throughout culture, but this article identifies the numerous benefits that laughter has on the physical health of patients. Laughter is a common therapy utilized at mnumerous hospitals and clinics around the country. The University of New Mexico Hospital actually has a "humor room" for patients. Physiologists have concluded through various studies that laughter helps with ventilation and clearing mucous. These benefits show that laughter can be an effective treatment for patients that suffer from chronic obstructive lung diseae. Laughter also increase perfusion by increasing overall circulation within the circulatory system. 

The crude trimyristin was recrystallized twice in order to produce a more pure version of trimyristin. The percent recovery of the first recrystallization was 8.94%. The reason that the percent recovery is so low is due to the fact that the initial amount of nutmeg, 1.029 g, is included as the starting material. The melting point of the first recrystallization was 52-53°C. The listed MP of trimyristin is 56-57°C, and thus the obtained melting point is lower than the listed MP. This could be due to impurities within the mixture. The second recrystallization of trimyristin yielded a percent recovery of 0.972%.

This experiment uses the diversity of insects on different parts of the UMass campus in Amherst, MA to indicate different factors about its microclimates. There has been a great deal of research focused on finding what different insect species says about the area they live. This experiment is designed so different groups can set up traps in various spots so they might be compared and conclusions can be drawn. This project would tell us a great deal about the environment in our area.

Hydrolysis using trimyristin (0.06 g, 0.083 mmol), 6M NaOH (2 mL, 0.107 mol), and ethanol (2 ML, 95%) was performed for 45 minutes. The flask was then cooled to room temperature and the contents poured into a 50 mL beaker with water (8.0 mL). HCl (2 mL, 81.7 mmol) was then added dropwise. The beaker was cooled in ice water for 10 minutes and the final product of myristic acid (0.032 g, 3.28%) was collected via suction filtration. The melting point of trimyristin was taken at the first recrystallization (52-53 °C) and the second (not observed). The melting point of the final product, myristic acid (52-53 °C) was also taken.