Drafts

In Spring 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology Course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, pictures were taken of  a flowering plant and a close-up of one of that plants flowers. Using these pictures and a map locating the flowering plants origins, a multi-panel figure was then made on the program Inkscape.  Methods were written to describe in detail how the multi-panel figure was made as well as what was photographed and how it was photographed. The methods were then shared with another student in the class for them to replicate what was done.

Dark cycle is very similar to light cycle, you would assume that dark cycle doesn't need light as its energy source but it actually does. Dark cycle uses more chemical energy as the calvin cycle enters with its CO2 to make sugars and ATP. As electrons exit the biochemical cycle, electron transport occurs with the help of light. H2O turns into O2 hence why photosynthesis has its formula. There are 3 stages, carboxylation, reduction, and regneration. The products that are formed are 3-phospho-glyceric acid, Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, and Ribulose 1,5 bis-phosphate. We touched upon Rubisco reaction in class as well but not too sure what it is.

The anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members interact to maintain mitochondrial integrity and regulate cellular commitment to apoptosis. Apoptosis, cell death, is crucial for development and homeostasis. These signals are normally tightly regulated in cells. An unbalance is needed for tumorigenesis to occur and becomes even greater when the tumor becomes resistant to the treatments. By specifically regulating these proteins and the pathways involved, it can be possible to have more control in the way cancer cells act.

Observational differences are present throughout the figures. The flower pictured in the original, Figure 1, the pictured flower does not have a hint of white on it. Meanwhile in the replicate, Figure 2, has a hint of white on it. Another difference is that the flower pictured in panel B of Figure 2 appears larger, than the flower pictured in panel A of Figure 1. Also the flower pictured in panel A of Figure 2 appears larger, than the flower pictured in panel B of Figure 1.

Other differences appear when you look at the overall structure of the figure. The shading color of the map in panel C of Figure 2 is red, which is different than the blue color used in panel C of Figure 1. More of China is also shaded in panel C of Figure 2 than in panel C of Figure 1. Also the panel labels, A, B and C, in Figure 2 are white with a black background, however in Figure 1 they are black with no background. Lastly in panels A and B of Figure 1 there are arrows indicating location of important structures on the plant and flower, meanwhile in Figure 2 these arrows are absent.

A study was conducted on diet-induced obese mice, in which some mice remained obese, and some mice were exercising on a treadmill. It was found that in the mice that exercised, hippocampal neuroplasticity was increased, thus increasing cognitive function. This conclusion suggests that exercise can help to protect against obesity-induced cognitive impairment.

Earlier in the week I discussed the topic of photosynthesis, but never touched upon the topic of dark and light reactions. The photosynthesis reaction can be broken into two seperate sub-reactions, light and dark. As described by its name the light reactions gain their energy and are activated by light photons. As the intesity of light increases the amount of products produced, speed and efficiency of the reaction are increase. The light reactions involve two photosystems connected by an electron transport chain, these two systems function optimally at 680nm and 720nm light wavelegths.The dark reactions on the other hand, are considered to function independently from it, meaning they do not need photon energy of any sort to produce products. The process of the reaction is the Calvin cylce, which invovles the fixation of carbon into carbohydrates and the dissacotiation of water. This carbon fixation occurs in the stroma and requires NADPH and ATP in order to occur effectively. The ATP and NADPH the dark reactions use are the products of the light reaction, therefore without the light reactions and in turn the presence of light, the dark reactions would cease to occur because of their use of the ATP and NADPH.

    Personally, I love koalas they are adorable and the thought of them being extinct is very scary. Currently, koala populations are on the decline and while people may be trying to help there still is no vaccine to help them. There has been some research done that shows that some populations of koalas do not have Chlamydia, however, how long will it be until they do have it. In my opinion, this is a terrible disease and needs more attention. If more attention is not given to the koalas it's only a matter of time before they are gone from this world completely. One of the more problematic things this disease causes is infertility. This could be catastrophes to wild and captive koalas. There may be a time where we have plenty of koalas left but they are unable to reproduce. Hopefully, more studies like this are done on Chlamydia and its effects on the koala.

The study looked at a total of 160 koalas outside of Moreton Bay in Southeast Queensland, Australia. They did full physical examinations of every koala and clinical tests for things like Chlamydia. Koalas are known to get two kinds of Chlamydia ocular, and urogenital each with its own set of symptoms and transmission. They found that 31% of the population tested positive for Chlamydia, with 4% having only ocular, 17% having only urogenital, and 10% having both ocular and urogenital. They also found that 29% of the koalas that were between ages 9 months to 13 months have Chlamydia. Koalas aged under 13 months are considered sexually immature. The prevalence of Chlamydia in young koalas suggests that the mothers giving their offspring Chlamydia, as well as passing it onto other individuals through sex. This broadens the diseases capabilities of infecting more koalas and brings researchers one step closer to creating a vaccine.

The goal of this study was to get a better understanding of the transmission of Chlamydia in Koalas in Queensland Australia. In addition, this research will later be used to help create a vaccine in order to help the rapidly declining populations of koalas. Currently, koala populations are being decimated throughout Australia due to Chlamydia and not much is being done to assist the koalas in fighting this disease. The research team wanted to get an idea of how prevalent Chlamydia was in the populations of koalas around Queensland Australia. They hoped that the information gained from this can help in fighting the proliferation of this disease.