Writing in Biology

Summary of Capturing the Tree and Moss

I took a picture of a tree named “Honey Locust” located to the side of the parking lot next to the Life Sciences Building. I took a few steps away from the tree and captured a wide shot at eye level. The camera was in portrait mode showing the tree in the middle of the frame. The picture was from the ground to the top of the tree before branches extended from the tree. Behind the tree was a gray fence and the Life Sciences Building. The Life Sciences Building stood to the right of the the Honey Locust tree and there was another tree to the right captured in the shot. For the second picture, I stepped closer to the tree just until the words “Honey Locust” came into focus. The Life Science Building was also in the background of this image and the tree to the right of Honey Locust was also present. The lowest two branches extending from the tree were more visible than in the previous picture. Finally, I took a close up image of the tree showing the moss and the bark just below the sign. The tree occupied most of the frame but not all of it. The moss was the focal point of the image. 

Summary of Making the Figure

First, I imported the 3 pictures into Inkscape. Then I set the width of each picture to 500 mm. I aligned the pictures from corner to corner. Then I made a text box of width 40 mm and typed in the letter “a.” Then I made a white rectangle of width 80 and layered it under the letter. I then centered the letter “a” in in the rectangle. I dragged the rectangle with the centered letter to the top left corner of the figure. I repeated this process with letters “b” and “c” for the next two figures. Then I made two freehand lines of width 6. I put a marker on both of them to make them arrows. I put a white filling on the markers. I positioned the first arrow to point to the moss and the second arrow to point to the bark on the tree. Then I exported the file to create a PNG image. I saved this image onto my computer. 

This first chapter introduces the concept of virtual water, which we have already touched upon in class. Pearce defines it here as the water beyond standard household use, but instead the water that is needed during the manufacturing, growing, or feeding of a given product. He explains that food requires the most virtual water, do to the water needed to tend to crops as well as bathe or grow the grain to feed livestock, and then process and preserve their meat. I found Pearce’s enumeration of the amounts of water that go into common products was eye opening, especially that, when factoring in virtual water, the average westerner consumes 360,000 and 480,000 gallons a year. The fact provided in this chapter that I found the most surprising was that the United States was the world’s largest exporter of virtual water. I also found it interesting when Pearce presented a more nuanced view of the virtual water trade that while the current system is untenable, some virtual water trade will always be necessary for particular regions, like those of the Middle East or the Sahara.

Regarding the liposome decorated with TAB004 and an antibody for CA 19-9 on the exterior and ONC201 along with another synergistic drug on the interior, blood tests for antigen biomarkers could be run and evaluated. The CA 19-9 radioimmunoassay (RIA) measures the amount of CA 19-9 in the blood (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2019). CA 19-9 can either be bound to the surface of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells or secreted by them, so this test can serve as a marker for treatment success. Changes in the levels of CA 19-9 in the blood would allow the researchers to assess the progression of the tumor and see if it is growing, shrinking, or maintaining its size. The normal CA 19-9 range in a healthy individual is 0-37 units per millimeter. Rising levels would indicate progression of the cancer, consistent levels would indicate the cancer has stabilized, and declining CA 19-9 levels would indicate shrinkage (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2019). The researchers would assess this biomarker biweekly. An analogous test for MUC-1 will also be developed and performed by the researchers in an effort to fully assay the targeted treatment. An increase of MUC-1 in the blood would indicate growth, consistent levels would indicate stability, and decreasing levels would imply shrinkage of the tumor. The researchers would also like to develop a method to assess binding affinities of pancreatic adenocarcinoma-specific antigens to the respective antibodies in order to determine the efficacy of the treatment.

Sleep Theories

There are several theories on why animals must sleep. Some of these theories include the "repair and restoration theory," "evolutionary theory," and "information consolidation theory." The repair and restoration theory suggests that physiological processes are restored and revitalized when organisms sleep. This also ties into the other theories, which are likewise all interconnected. The evolutionary theory suggests that sleep is an adaptation. According to this theory, when food supply was short, in order to conserve energy, organisms developed the adaptation to sleep. The information consolidation theory, similar to the repair and restoration theory, suggests that sleep helps process information gathered from the day. It also helps with processing information during periods of being awake. However, these theories do not fully capture why it is necessary to sleep, and some biologists have made claims that sleep is one of evolution's biggest flaws.This is because sleeping organisms are more prone to attack while they are asleep.

An acid base extraction involves looking at a mixture and separating the two solvents within to extract pure compounds.The compounds, when mixed with two different solvents of different densities will separate into two layers. After the compounds are mixed and layers are formed in test tubes, the two phases are separated via pipet. Once the solvents are evvaporated, the separated, we get a yield of the solid compounds. Once the solids are aquired, purification may be done by recrystalization to remove any impurities.

Nonpolar molecules tend to clump together when in aqueous environments. A nonpolar molecule tends to have a majority of nonpolar covalent bonds that occur between molecules of similiar electronegativity causing it to be hydrophobic. For example, carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds are examples of bonds between two molecules that have a similar electronegativity. These molecules can generate some temporary, partical charges that allow the molecule to make very weak nonpolar interactions, which are called Van de Waal interactions. However, when in aqueous environments these molecules tend to clump together in order to increase the entropy of the water molecules. Greater entropy is favored in natural environments due to the fact that it requires less energy. When the nonpolar molecules clump together, this decreases the surface area of nonploar molecules that are surrounded by water. A cage of water molecule forms around the hydrophobic molecules preventing the nonpolar and polar molecules from interacting. If the nonpolar molecules were not clumped, there would be more organized water molecules involved in these individual cages. Molecules that are amphipatic contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. In aqueous environments, the hydrophobic molecules will clump and the hydrophilic molecules will arrange themselves on the outside. 

I took a picture of a tree named “Honey Locust” near the parking lot next to the Life Science Building. First I took a wide shot of the tree from the ground to the top of the tree before the branches extend from it. The tree was in front of a gray fence with the Life Science Building in the background. Then I took a picture of the tree with the camera focused on the words “Honey Locust. ” There is the Life Science Building and a tree on the right that is visible in the background. Next, I took a picture of the tree very close up showing the moss and the bark. This picture did not include the sign on it and the fence is only barely visible to the left of the tree. ​

First, I imported the 3 pictures into Inkscape. Then I set the width of each picture to 500 mm. I aligned the pictures from corner to corner. Then I made a text box of width 40 mm and typed in the letter “a.” Then I made a white rectangle of width 80 and layered it under the letter. I then centered the letter “a” in in the rectangle. I dragged the rectangle with the centered letter to the top left corner of the figure. I repeated this process with letters “b” and “c” for the next two figures. Then I made two freehand lines of width 6. I put a marker on both of them to make them arrows. I put a white filling on the markers. I positioned the first arrow to point to the moss and the second arrow to point to the bark on the tree. Then I exported the file to create a PNG image. I saved this image onto my computer. 

I agree that artificial selection should be used as a tool in medicine. No one deserves to be born with a life-threatening disease. If we have the capability to prevent that, then we should. But there is a difference between selecting traits to save someone's life and selecting traits based on personal whim. The latter is changing fundamental parts of someone's core identity without their permission. What if a parent designed their kid to have amazing hearing but it backfires by causing anxiety due to noise sensitivity? Or what if a parent chooses for their child to have a beautiful eye color, but it somehow limits the child's visuo-spatial skills? Because many genes control more than one factor I agree that we need more research to be done.

At first glance, the replica of the original diagram is quite accurate.  Upon further inspection, there are some noticeable differences.  The font of the text is different, so it was likely not specified.  The letters are also misplaces, for example, the C touches the bottom of the figure, whereas the B does not.  This likely means that it was done by hand.  There is a noticeable difference in leaf color in box A.  In this same box, there is a leaf from another plant overhanging the frame that is in differing orientations.  These combined observations lead me to believe that the side from which to photograph the plant was not specified.  For boxes B and C, the picture is noticeably closer to the flower in the second figure.  This could be the result of a lack of specificity, but could also be the result of measurement inaccuracies.