Writing in Biology

    The reality is that everybody achieves milestones at different parts in life. Nobody is at the same point in life, and nobody’s path in life should be determined by comparing yourself to other people. While it may be true that we go through the first 17, 18 years of our lives through schooling, schooling is sort of given to us as children as sort of a guide. But there’s this expectation that we are supposed to go through public schooling, then attend college, and then get a job right out of college. We cannot emulate the exact same thing our parents did, and most of us don’t want to even do what our parent did. Even if we did want to do what our parents did, time’s have changed and circumstances have changed; especially with when our parents immigrated when their circumstances were so drastically different. There are a lot of times when we experience things like a quarter-life crisis, because we feel lost; but feeling lost is a part of life and everyone goes at a different speed in life. Some people get cars and mansions by they’re 18, while other people may still have trouble moving out when they’re 25, and that’s totally okay. We all walk different paths in life, and it’s difficult to come to that understanding when you’re going through social media and see people who are doing so much ‘better’ than you, when in reality you’re more than likely doing what’s exactly beneficial for yourself, as long as you’re making a conscious effort to move forward.

This was for the talk I attended at Harvard. The results showed that there were many aspects as to how cells maintain a uniform rod shape as they grow. One result showed that there are two main ways that new cell wall is added to the cell. The first being that new cell wall is inserted in an oriented manor, which means that filaments travel around the radius of the cell and are oriented by cell radius rudders. The second is that new cell wall is inserted in an unoriented manor, this means that cell wall is inserted randomly by enzymes. Another result showed that when mreBCD was upregulated the cell rod width decreased and it became skinnier, if mreBCD was downregulated then the cell rod width increased and it became fatter. The salt shock showed that cells with upregulated mreBCD were able to maintain their rod form for a longer time than cells with lower levels. An additional result showed that when the cells were provided additional nutrients they were able to grow into a rod shape quicker. A similar result showed that when the cell was essentially tricked into thinking it had adequate nutrients it grew at the same rate showing that a kinase domain was responsible for sensing environmental nutrients.

The publication by Abrams has a level 2 heading whereas the other one has a level 1 heading. The paper by John and Dale is structured more like a lab report following an experiment. It includes labeled figures, tables, and headings such as “abstract” and “results.” The publication by Abrams is structured more like a question-and-answer paper written in an essay format. The questions are bolded with long paragraphs that follow in response. The first paragraph of both publications gives an overview of the objective in addition to brief background information. The publication by Abrams has multiple in-text-citations in every paragraph whereas the publication by John and Dale has few in-text citations. The publication by Abrams also has many more references than that of John and Dale. This makes sense to me because the goal of the publication by John and Dale is to add new knowledge to Ecology, whereas the goal of the other paper is to present the knowledge in an understandable way. The format of each publications is tailored to its objective.

Although all of these developmental malformations impact the Hh signaling pathway in some way, they give rise to different phenotypes. These differences are visual indicators of different ways the Hh pathway can be disrupted. By discerning the gene that causes each syndrome and the molecule(s) that are disrupted as a result, you can figure out the role that the disrupted molecule normally plays in the pathway. For instance, based on the syndromes described above, you can infer that the Hh signaling pathway is responsible for eye and brain development. Knowledge of related abnormalities caused by disrupting a single pathway can elucidate the function of multiple components in the pathway and how those components interact with one another.

Malformations in the SOX9 gene can result in a variety of syndromes including Pierre Robin Syndrome, Campomelic Dysplasia, and Acampomelic Campomelic Dysplasia. In Greek, Campomelic means “bent limb,” which is a common symptom of Campomelic Dysplasia. Individuals born without bowed limbs are said to have Acampomelic Dysplasia. Both syndromes involve skeletal and reproductive malformations and are life-threatening in newborns. Malformations in the Hh signaling pathway can cause Holoprosencephaly, Microphthalamia with Coloboma, and Schizencephaly. Holoprosencephaly is an abnormality in brain development when the prosencephalon does not divide into the left and right hemispheres. Microphthalmia occurs when one or both eyeballs is abnormally small. People with Microphthalmia often have Coloboma, an anatomic abnormality in which pieces of tissue are missing from the eye. Finally, Schizencephaly is a rare birth defect that causes clefts in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain.

The paper focuses on the macroevolution of crinoids in response to sea urchin predation. Although sea urchins are more commonly known as grazers and predators that feed on coral, evidence of sea urchin bite marks on crinoids suggests a predator-prey relationship between the two. The data collected by the authors shows that bite mark frequencies increased with sea urchin diversity. It also showed that frequencies of bite marks on sessile crinoids was higher than those of motile crinoids. This result suggests that crinoids evolved to become motile as an evolutionary response against sea urchin predation during the Triassic. It also provides an explanation for why motile crinoids are more abundant than sessile crinoids in recent history. Overall, sea urchin predation on crinoids was measured by bite-mark frequencies, and the predator-prey interaction led to macroevolutionary changes in crinoids.

The main point of this paper is that sea urchin predation caused macroevolutionary changes in crinoids. Although sea urchins are more commonly known as grazers and predators that feed on coral, evidence of sea urchin bite marks on crinoids suggests a predator-prey relationship between the two. Data collected by the authors show that bite mark frequencies increased with sea urchin diversity. It also showed that frequencies of bite marks on sessile crinoids was higher than those of motile crinoids. The authors of the study hypothesize that crinoids evolved motility as a response against sea urchin predation during the Triassic. This conclusion seems plausible because motile crinoids have become more abundant than sessile crinoids in recent history. Overall, sea urchin predation on crinoids was measured by bite-mark frequencies, and the predator-prey interaction led to macroevolutionary changes in crinoids.

    Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, WeChat, Youtube, etc. These are just some of the major social media platforms that exist today in current society. While we are able to express out differences in opinions and stay up to date with what our friends are up to, it inherently is supposed to keep us more connected with our friends. Yet, recent studies have shown that those who use these platforms constantly, are more prone to feeling alone and depressed. So what’s causing this feeling of anxiety and loneliness? For starters, social media acts as a highlight reel for a lot of people, where people are able to show off some of the really good things that are happening to them in real life; sometimes it’s celebrating someone’s birthday party, or someone’s baby shower, or maybe just ‘going out for a few drinks with the guys’. Yet seeing so many posts and photos of all these things, makes a lot of people start to feel what’s colloquially known as FOMO, or the ‘feeling of missing out’. This is a recent emotion that has become much more severe in young adults and teenagers, as they are constantly exposed to what people are doing. A lot of people tend to feel sad about what they’re doing about their lives, instead of celebrating what their friends are up to. This increase in sadness and depression that stems from being so connected with the people around you, is a large modern problem that comes with currently, very few solutions.

Thermogenin is a protein found in the inner mitochondrial membrane in adipose tissue of some animals, such as human infants and bears. The presence of this protein allows protons to flow from the intermembrane space to the mitochondrial matrix. If a lot of this protein is present, it will decrease the rate of ATP synthesis but increase the rate of oxygen consumption, which is a measure of electron transport chain activity. This is because the proton gradient cannot form if they are allowed to flow back to the matrix and cannot be built up in the intermembrane pace. The proton gradient is what powers the synthesis of ATP through ATP synthase. Oxygen consumption will still increase though since the electron transport chain will continue to pump protons into the intermembrane space in an attempt to form a gradient. Thermogenin allows for heat production without the production of ATP, so it is important to babies and hibernating bears, which don’t require much ATP.

Modern gene therapy tools have the potential to treat diseases through gene editing. Deadly diseases in the human genome could be eliminated or minimized. However, the technology could easily be abused. Therefore, countries have been banning research on gene editing to maintain safety and for other ethical reasons. The goal of this study was to gain perspective about the opinions students have on gene editing. For our project, we surveyed 40 students attending the Univeristy of Massachusetts Amherts about the ethics of gene therapy. The survey consisted of 10 questions, and the results of these surveys were assembled into pie charts. The results showed that most people were neutral or agreed that using gene therapy to genetically modicy genes is ethical. The majory also agreed that gene editing is not ethical when used for self-satisfaction and that people would use this technology for selfish purposes if it was normalized.