Drafts

The first step of this experiment was setting up matings of different strains in patches on a YED plate(a rich medium that contains all the nutrients yeast need to grow). The mating types that were crossed included HB1xHA0, HB1xHA1, HB1xHA2, and HA1xHA2. In order to carry out these crosses, a toothpick was used to transfer the appropriate haploid strain onto the plate by simply using a sterile toothpick to transfer a dollop of the mating partner on top and gently mixing the two strains on the surface of the agar. The steps were repeated for the remaining crosses and the plates were left incubated at 30° C. YED plates contain adenine so even the haploid adenine deficient cells were able to grow, so in order to determine which crosses were able to grow without the presence of adenine, the cells were placed on MV plates as well(media that contains minimum amount of nutrients required to support growth). Both the haploid and diploid yeast strains were plated into quadrants of MV plates using the same techniques that were used on the YED plates.

The goal of this lab was to carefully determine the genotype of the four haploid yeast strains as well as conclude whether or not the genes were linked and complemented each other. After analysis of the phenotypes in figure 5, one could conclude that these genes are linked however, because of the blanks in the sample and the size of the sample itself the results may not be 100% accurate. Genes would be considered linked if nonparental ditypes are at a lower frequency in comparison to parental ditypes. The difficult process of this experiment would have to be analyzing the growth that occurred on the cells because when streaking we might've taken too many cells.

Class Mammalia has two subclasses: Subclass Prototheria and Subclass Theria. Subclass Prototheria has only one order, Order Monotremata (monotremes), which has only two extant families. These families are F. Tachyglossidae—echidnas—and F. Ornithorhynchidae—platypuses. The second subclass, Subclass Theria, is made of up of two infraclasss: Infraclass Metatheria, which are all the marsupial mammals and Infraclass Eutheria, which includes all the placental mammals. There are in total 7 orders in Infraclass Metatheria, but in Mammalogy lab we are not including O. Paucituberculata (shrew opossums) and O. Notoryctemorphia (marsupial moles), as we have no available specimens. The orders we are focusing on are O. Diprotodontia, O. Peramelemorphia, O. Didelphimorphia, and O. Dasyuromorphia. These mammalian orders are all found in the Australian zone, with the exception of O. Didelphimorphia, which lives in the Nearctic & Neotropical zones. The seventh order is O. Microbiotheria, which only has a single species that lives in the Neotropical zone. O. Diprotodontia includes the diprotodont and syndactylous marsupials and the other three orders are polyprotodont and didactylous, with the exception of O. Peramelemorphia whose family (F. Peramelidae) are the only marsupials that are both polyprotodont and syndactylous.

The imaging software used to create the figures also may account for the difference in many factors of both the original and the replicate. The original figure was created through Inkscape and the replicate figure may have been created through microsoft word. Imaging size differences could be explained by this software as well as Word limits the margin sizes to one inch by default, whereas in Inkscape, the images are not bound to any range. This could also explain the letter label sizing, as font size 70 in Inkscape may appear differently than font size 70 in Word. Word also does not have the same centering functions of the letter labels as Inkscape, also accounting for this difference between the original and replicate. Discrepancies in arrow shape and size may also be explained by this software difference. In Word, arrows appear blue and naturally thick. In Inkscape, one can edit the arrow color and width. The arrowheads are also different as Inkscape offers a wide range of heads to choose from while Word has the singular arrowhead of 90 degrees. The black line in the interaction image and green backgrounds of images in the replicate figure may also be fragments of Word imaging that Inkscape does not possess.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is the use of magnetic fields to modify brain activity. Schizophrenia symptoms are tied in with the neural activity between the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center used transcranial magnetic stimulation in attempt to alleviate schizophrenia symptoms. Patients who went through TMS were found to have an increase in connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. The treatment is new and does not work the same on everyone. The amount of symptoms that were alleviated were different between people.

This is the expected results for my bacterial motility experiment.

Expected Results:

Motile organisms were expected to move from the point at which they were originally inoculated. The first way motility was tested was with a motility agar, this agar contains tetrazolium salt and will turn purple after it is oxidized. The two organisms tested were non-motile S. aureus and motile P. mirabilis. The agar inoculated with S. aureus was expected to only be purple at site of inoculation due to the fact it is non-motile and will not reduced the tetrazolium salt it is not immediately next to. The agar inoculated with P. mirabilis was expected to be entirely purple because it is a motile organism. This result would show that all tetrazolium salt had been reduced which means P. mirabilis moved to that part of the agar. The second test was to determine if an organized displayed taxis. The expected results were that S. marcescens would exhibit chemotaxis (the ability to detect and respond to different chemicals). Chemotaxis was expected to be displayed by the motile organism, in this case S. marcescens, by traveling from the nutrient poor water agar across a piece of filter to the nutrient rich GYE agar. E. faecalis is non-motile, it was expected to stay on the water agar and not grow due to the fact that it can not move nor does it display chemotaxis.

The tumor microenvironment is the cellular environment in which the tumor exists.  Tumors often undergo a process called angiogenesis.  This is when the tumor causes the formation of a new blood vessel so it can get its nutrients.  Furthermore, tumors that have access to a blood vessel may shed cells to be carried in the blood, then implant somewhere else to begin growth of another tumor.  This process is known as metastasis.  Tumors cause angiogenesis by secreting signaling molecules such as the growth factors bFGF and VEGF, as well as proteins.  The secretion of these also allows the tumor to avoid eliciting an immune response.  Other cells involved in the tumor microenvironment include fibroblasts - cells that synthesizes collagen which provides the structural framework for animal tissues and plays a role in wound healing.  Additionally, cancer of the bone includes bone marrow in its tumor microenvironment.

Free will has some truth to it, though it is an idealized concept. If our actions were completely determined by our genes, then we would be much more predictable as humans. It would be easier to pinpoint the cause of a disease. In the article “Missing Gene Link to Aggression,” researchers were able to find a gene (PET-1) that may give rise to anxiety and violence, however they also agreed that other factors were involved. People with the gene can make choices in their daily lives to put themselves more or less at risk. They can exercise, minimize stress, interact with others regularly, and do other things to take care of their health. Our ability change our actions to counteract the deleterious effects of inherited genes is evidence that we have some form of free will.