Writing in Biology

Glycolysis is the catabolic process of breaking down glucose molecules. Glucose is an essential energy source and occurs in mostly all cells of all organisms as  this break down results in the production of ATP. There are two phases in glycolysis which include; energy investment and energy payoff. The purpose of the energy investment phase is to create molecules with a high phosphoryl group transfer potential, the energy payoff is used to generate a small amount of ATP from molecules with a high phosphoryl group transfer potential than ATP. Glycolysis consists of a total of 10 reactions. Reactions from 1-5 all occur once however, all the other reactions occur twice for each glucose molecule. 

Estrous cycles cause changes in hormone levels in females. When hormone levels change it causes alterations within the body. At this point in time females tend to learn more, seek rewards and take in more environmental cues. Hormone levels change depending on the time and part of the day and year. Scientists found that changes in hormone levels have and effect on learning and addiction. The estrous cycle is rhymythic since it occurs for approximately a week in every single month of the year. The rhythmic increase and decrease of hormones causes interactions with neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine and dopamine. Which increases learning and reward seeking.

In the cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) of epithelial ovarian cancer, miR-31 and miR-214 were downregulated, while miR-155 was upregulated (Mitra et al 2012). MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that downregulate gene expression post transcriptionally by binding to mRNA. Furthermore, Mitra and colleagues found that inducing this phenotype in normal fibroblasts using miRNAs and miRNA inhibitors yielded a functional conversion of normal fibroblasts to CAFs, and the reverse experiment caused reversion of CAFs to normal fibroblasts.  These promising findings will be the basis of my treatment regarding cancer associated fibroblasts. To further explain, I tried to elucidate the mechanisms by which epigenetic changes in these specific miRNAs may cause the phenotype observed by Mitra and colleagues.

In addition, a survey calculated by the American College Health Association “found a significant increase- to 62 percent in 2016 from 50 percent in 2011- of undergraduates reporting “overwhelming anxiety” in the previous year” (Denizet-Lewis, 2017). More research conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at U.C.L.A. asked incoming freshman if they “felt overwhelmed by all [they] had to do” during their recent year at college. They found that “in 1985, 18 percent said they did. By 2010, that number had increased to 29 percent. Last year, it surged to 41 percent” (Denizet-Lewis, 2017). Evidently, more college students all over America are experiencing more stress and as a result are more prone to developing disorders such as anxiety and depression. Academic demands from colleges are increasing and competition of acception rates are also increasing.

The metabolism is made up of anabolic and catabolic processes. Anabolic processes are endergonic, meaning they are not spontaneous, while catabolic processes are exergonic and spontaneous. So how do endergonic reactions occur then? There is metabolic coupling between biochemical pathways so that energy released from an exergonic reaction is used to provide energy needed for an endergonic reaction. This exchange of energy happens in two forms: phosphate groups and electrons. Certain molecules with phosphate groups have high free energies, so the removal of a phosphate group by hydrolysis has a largely negative change is free energy. Phosphorylation, on the other hand, requires energy input. The magnitude of free energy available in the bond is the phosphoryl group transfer potential, and molecules with larger phosphoryl group transfer potentials can phosphorylate molecules with lower potential. In other words, energy released by hydrolysis is used to power other reactions. An example is the coupling that occurs to power muscle contractions. Creatine phosphate is hydrolyzed to form creatine, and this energy is used to phosphorylate ADP to ATP. ATP is the main energy currency molecule in nearly all cells. 

          Aneuploidy can arise in several ways. First, a chromosome may be lost in the course of mitosis or meiosis if, for example, its centromere is deleted. Loss of the centromere prevents the spindle microtubules from attaching, so the chromosome fails to move to the spindle pole and does not become incorporated into a nucleus after cell division. Second, the small chromosome generated by a Robertsonian translocation may be lost in mitosis or meiosis. Third, aneuploidy may arise through nondisjunction, the failure of homologous chromosomes or sister chromatids to separate in meiosis or mitosis. Nondisjunction leads to some gametes or cells that contain an extra chromosome and other gametes or cells that are missing a chromosome

Biparental care can be easier than being a single parent. But the workload is still massive. In the bird groups that show delayed dispersal, there is a helper male that assists the actual breeding male to protect the territory. For the caring the young, the actual parents will take care of it. But to reduce the stress of protecting the territory while feeding the young, birds such as Siberian Jays learned to have a helper male that did not breed in that year to help them to watch the territory from being attacked. This is a method that did become advantageous allowing the population to survive better. The birds that follow this strategy also show replacement in partners too. If the breeding male dies during the breeding season, there are cases the helping male becomes the new father for the nestlings so they will continue to have biparental care.

Biodiversity is the number of various species of organisms in a given place. Biodiversity ensures that every organism within an ecosystem has a niche in which it can thrive. Generally, the more biodiversity an area has, the more sustainable it is and the more it is able to recover from disaster. With more variation and numbers, an illness for example could infect one species but it would not severely hurt the ecosystem it is in. Lawns have become pervasive with their growing significance in human experiences. Biodiversity is also a feature that accompanies the presence of lawns because various species of flora and fauna exist in these miniature habitats. Plant diversity on lawns is impacted significantly by human disturbances like mowing and use of herbicides which are characteristic of common maintenance practices. These effects have been studied extensively in urban areas but not so much in small towns like Amherst, Massachusetts. In this study, we will investigate the role of these human disturbances here at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and around. We will start by obtaining relevant data about maintenance practices and carrying out sampling experiments in 6 selected lawns. Analysis and comparison of the obtained data will reveal if, in fact, lawn maintenance practices negatively affect plant species diversity. This will provide a framework and resources for future decision-making with regards to of biodiversity conservation.

In my intro to microbiology lab we have been working with many different gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The easiest way to tell the two kinds of bacteria apart is by doing a gram stain. This stains the outer layer of the bacterial cell. Gram positive bacteria will turn a purple color, and gram negative bacteria will turn a pink color. You have to look under a microscope to determine whether or not the bacteria you are testing is gram positive or gram negative. There are also many other tests that you can run to help see if the organism you are working with is gram positive or gram negative and what that specific organism may be. You can plate the organisms on different types of agar and see what the colonies look like. Also if you plate the organisms on a differential or a selective media you can look and see what kind of reaction happens within the media or if the media suppresses bacterial growth. All of these will be very important in determining what organism you are working with. Tests in a medical lab for these organisms are a lot more straightforward to run and more streamlined in order to get a faster result.   

A second recrystallization was performed on the trimyristin using the minimal amount of acetone to dissolve the solid. The liquid solution was heated till boiling and cooled at room temperature for ten minutes. The solution was then cooled in an ice bath for another 10 minutes. The product was dried, and the mass was determined. The melting point of the twice recrystallized trimyristin was found and the percent recovery after the first recrystallization was determined.