cynthiaguzma's blog

The hypothesis that body temperature stays constant after exercise was not supported due to the differences found in the mean and the data that wwas shown on the graph. The graph shows for the majority of the time that at rest the body temperature is higher than after a minute of exercise. This is consistent with what others have found in published papers (1.) Body temperature is higher at rest and tends to cool down during exercise since sweat is being produced in order to cool the body. Which means that the temperature reading after exercise will be lower than before it. There could have been errors with the way people were taking their temperature, there could have been inconsistencies on where they were positioning the thermometer. For a clearer picture of thermoregulation, a better thermometer would be use that would be better at picking up the exact temperatures to create more accurate and consistent data.

Childhood for humans is considerably a lot longer than for other mammals including our closest living primate relatives. There is a long period of immaturity in humans even when taking into consideration our relatively long lifespans. However, stretching out the maturation may have given humans a unique evolutionary advantage. Humans and chimpanzees split off between six to seven million years ago and have been evolving separately ever since then. Early human fossils showed that humans had short growth periods which are a lot more similar to chimpanzees nowadays then modern-day humans. There is slow maturation in children nowadays that is linked to human’s emergence in society, this long period of maturation allows for an extended period of education. Humans are able to learn more and develop their brains better than other primates allowing them to “live slow and grow old.”

Lucy's skeleton was found by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray in 1974 in Ethiopia. An ulna was spotted that was identifued as a hominid, a long period of excavation began which presented them with forty percent of a single hominid skeleton. This skeleton is a member of the family Hominidae which encompasses all species originating after humans and ape's split. A defining characteristic of all hominids is that they are able to walk upright and have bipedal locomotion. There legs lie directly underneath their pelvis. Lucy showed key characteristics that pointing to bipedality. Her skeleton is approximately 3.2 million years old.

Gene therapy is known as the ability for gene improvement by altering genes usually for the purpose of treating a disease. A normal gene is inserted into a genome which then replaces an abnormal gene. There are multiple gene therapy protocols that have been approved for clinical use although some have been successful there is still a lot left to understand. Two specific types of gene therapy are germline gene therapy and gene therapy of somatic cells, the key difference being that using somatic cells so future generations can’t inherit it, which is not the case for germline gene therapy. Some difficulties that arise with gene therapy is that a vector is needed in order to release the gene into the stem cell. This vector is a very specific one which cannot elicit a response from the immune system and has to be able to be produced in a large scale. The vector has to express the gene for the patient’s entire life.

There is a potential to treat diseases through gene editing, deadly diseases in the human genome can be eliminated or minimized. However, this technology can easily be abused for non-therapeutic modifications. The ethical issues that are raised with germline gene therapy specifically is that the individuals who are treated with this are not born yet. Therefore, they do not have the ability to consent to the treatment. Due to the fact that these techniques are relatively new, not a lot is known about the adverse effects of these treatments and what may happen in the future. I believe what must be done is have more research on the topics, conduct more trials in order to have a solid foundation of understanding on gene therapy. This means that it would take longer before these techniques can be clinically used but they would be safer.

However, resistant cells can end up repopulating. T (CAR-T) cell therapy can also be used, this involves the manipulation/reprogramming of immune cells of the patients in order to attack tumor T cells. Multiple trials have been underway leading to new advancements and improvements in these trials which will lead to an increase in success of future trials. The article also discusses the CRISPR system that allows inactivation of exogenous sequences and allele substitution which promotes gene editing. The authors conclude that genetic therapy in somatic cells have been largely approved by the scientific community specifically in cases of disorders, but germline gene therapy is where the ethical issues arise.  On one side there is the Japanese Ethics Committee that believes the experiments conducted were correct since they had been approved by the ethics committee and had consent from egg donors. While on the other side American research groups did not support these experiments and needed to await improvements of techniques. There needs to be a more solid understanding of techniques before they can be widely used.

Humans have a long period of immaturity known as childhood this period is longer relative to all other mammals even other primates. This period is still considered long even when taking into consideration our long life spans. Although we may be vulnerable for a long period of time this long period of immaturity is a good thing. This might have to do with language since it takes a lot more to fully learn a language,young children are better at picking up what is consistent and common while ignoring what is changing or unreliable. Then they are able to reproduce the sounds they hear. Although it may seem like other mammals learn faster than humans it is because the information that humans retain is a lot more intricate.

The coccyxx is the anatomical term for the remnant of a tail in humas. Two of the characteristics that all primates share are that they have nails at the end of their fingers instead of claws they also all have long fingers. These hands make it possible for the primates to do a lot of things that most mammals are unable to do. The thumb they have allows them to grasp onto things, an important ability if living on branches and using hands to navigate throughout the branches.  Opposable thumbs can me moved around to touch other fingers on a hand this allows for the ability to grasp things. Not all primates have the opposable thumb.

What the author means by hologenomic approach is that they are not only taking into acount the genome of the vampire bites but they are also looking into the microbiome to compare it to other types of bats. The word sanguivory means that the bats feed on blood which comes with some challenges. The challenges that they face consist of a lack of nutrition. There is not a lot of nutritious value in having a diet of blood. Also a diet of just blood means that the bats are then exposed to blood bourne viruses that can make them fall ill. However the microbiome of vampire bats is different then that of an insectivorous bat, carnivorous bat, or frugivourous bat. The vampire bat has a stomach filled with certain enzymes that allow it to break down its blood and get nutrients which then contributes to the fitness of the bat itself.

“Some opponents of active euthanasia do not oppose it morally but worry that if doctors have the power to kill patients, they may use it too freely. Thus, much of the opposition to active, voluntary euthanasia comes from the fear that, if it is legalized, it will be abused. (1)” Giving a doctor far too much power and control gives humans a large sense of vulnerability. Doctors already have a control over other’s lives, euthanasia would not be any different. For euthanasia a patient must be the one to decide what will happen to them as well as have to sometimes undergo a psychological test to ensure that their decision is definite. “Advocates of physician-assisted suicide insist that it is inherently voluntary. The doctor prescribes the lethal medication, but the patient must choose to swallow the pills. (1)” Both of these versions it is the patient who is the one who desires to end their life and who makes the ultimate decision in going through with the process. These people are willing patients who have gone through a life that will not get any better, usually having an incurable disease.