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The University of Massachusetts Amherst is teeming with great faculty, which is what makes it such a great university. All of the great faculty made it difficult to choose one person to write about. However, after searching through the MCB faculty list, I found Dr. Sandra L Peterson. Sandra Peterson is a Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology of reproduction at UMass. I would describe Dr. Peterson as a developmental biologist, because of her background. Sandra Peterson got her BS in Biology at Rutgers University in 1977. She then went on to get her MS in Neuroendocrinology at Oregon State University in 1980. Finally, she followed that up with her PhD in Neuroendocrinology at Oregon State University in 1984. In 2015 she was given the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Mentoring. She was also given the 2015-2016 Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award.

Another example of modern convergent evolution is human adaptation to tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests are harsh environments for humans. They are marked with high pathogen activity, high temperatures and abundant rainfall, as well as ferocious animals. This type of unforgiving environment likely resulted in human adaptations in response to selective pressures. Researchers studied 660,918 SNP’s looking for outliers in populations living in a tropical rainforest and genetically related populations living outside of the tropical rainforest in Africa, North America and South America. “The most significant positive selection signals were found in genes related to lipid metabolism, the immune system, body development, and RNA Polymerase III transcription initiation. The results are discussed in the light of putative tropical forest selective pressures, namely food scarcity, high prevalence of pathogens, difficulty to move, and inefficient thermoregulation (Carlos Amorim et al., 2015).” Researchers identified seven clusters in five separate chromosomes that show positive selection for potential rain forest adaptations. Two of the clusters only showed evidence of positive selection in North America and South America. Two other clusters only showed evidence of positive selection in Africa. The other three clusters were found in both continents. This is clear evidence of convergent evolution in modern human history.

Exergonic and endergonic reactions share similarities and differences. The most known definitions of exergonic and endergonic reactions is exergonic refers to a reaction that gives off energy, while endergonic reactions take in energy. Although, there is more the energy. Both reactions require for an input of activation energy and use enzymes to lower the activation energy need to complete the reaction. Also the exergonic reactions have a negative value for the Gibb’s free energy value due to the reactants having greater free energy than the products. Endergonic reactions, however, are the opposite of exergonic reactions and have a positive Gibb’s free energy value because the products have more free energy than the reactants. Exergonic reactions are more favorable and spontaneous because of the negative value while endergonic reactions are less favorable and nonspontaneous.

The Writing in Biology class at University of Massachusetts assigned a methods project to help demonstrate what is needed to make this section of a paper clear enough to replicate. In this, I photographed the Cattleya ‘War Paint’ Orchid and created a map showing the plants origin and made a figure depicting these. I wrote a methods section for this process in which another student followed so they could duplicate the figure as accurately as possible. The differences in the figures involved different items shown in the background such as other plants and the floor and different coloring of the figures and the flower. The format of the map, the letters for the panels and the panels in the figures are also different. These inconsistencies could be accounted by certain factors such as different day, time of day, equipment used and the specific details not being included in the methods.

During the fall 2017 semester I took Statistics 240 course with Joanna Jeneralczuk. Throughout this course I learned about the basics of probability, binomial and normal distributions, Central Limit Theorem, simple linear regression, sampling distribution of the population mean and proportion, how to use the Z and T table, and etc. At the end of this course the core objective was to learn how to analyze data and draw inferences. In addition, to know how to present data graphically and interpret as well as recognize whether reported results correlate with the study and analysis conducted. From this course, a key component that was helpful in my other courses was probability since it also became useful in my genetics course. At the end of the course we had to form groups and perform studies and use our statistical analysis skills to carry out correlations between variables. 

Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is an extracellular signalling protein which modulates expression of a number of genes. The hedgehog protein binds to a transmembrane protein called Patched (Ptch). The binding of Shh stops Ptch from inhibiting another transmembrane protein called Smoothen (Smo). When Smo is active, it is able to induce the Gli transcription factors to being transcribing genes. While many of the genes regulated by Hh/Gli are known, further experiments with the Hh pathway continue to identify new genes.

The circulatory system consists of the heart pumping blood to the rest of the body. This is to provide oxygen to the tissues in order for them to function. One of the circulation theories of the body is that blood flow to the tissue is almost always controlled in realation to tissue needs. This is because the heart cannot send blood everywhere at the same time at the same rate. There are times when there's low oxygen or increasing dilating metabolic products in certain tissues compared to the rest of the body. The blood would therefore flow at an increased rate to that affected area. 

In Spring 2018, as part of the Biology Writing Course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst an experiment was conducted. This experiment focused on developing and following a methods section of an experiment report. In this experiment, students were tasked with creating a multi-panel figure consisting of three pictures, one picture of the entire plant, a close-up of the flower, and a map of the origin of the species. After the multi-panel figure was created, students wrote a methods section that described how the multi-panel figure was created. From there another student would follow the procedure and post a replicate multi-panel figure. I observed that the two different figures that were created were not formatted in the same way and the subject of interest in the pictures was not consistent.These differences suggest that the methods section did not specify the formatting of the multi-panel figure or the specific plant to take a picture of.

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible for the bodies response to and immense amount of stimuli. A recent study has gone on to map the CNS in a highly dimensional single-cell procedure that has assisted in showing how the CNS has specialezed and specific immune cell subsets in order to respond to stimuli. The subsets include, but are not limited to, tissue homeostasis, immune defense and neurological diseases. This newly found highly dimensional procedure has proven very beneficial in mapping part of the brain and CNS that have never been seen or studied before. It has specifically helped in the study of the pathology of the specific subsets of immune cells, present in order to respond to specific stimuli. This new data may lead to immense adavancements in medicine, including treatments of debilitating neurological diseases, by identifying disease mechanisms, biological markers and possible thereapeutic targets. 

This project called for the creation of a multipanel figure depicting a flower on campus in its occurring habitat. The purpose behind implementing this project allows for participants to learn the importance behind replicating another experiment, which is plays a large role in science. If the project or experiment contains a well structured, organized, and detailed methods section, those who are replicating the project will easily be able to follow the instructions presented and with great effort replicate the exact outcome gotten from the original model.