Genetics Unit Reflection

The genetics unit was by far one of my favorite units. It was fascinating and there is still so much more to discover and so many more questions to ask that yet haven't been answered. When it was our turn to teach our classmates a small part about genetics we haven't gone over in class, the topics were very intriguing. Katja and David looked at DNA profiling and how it is used to solve a crime case nowadays. Our DNA can tell everything about us and is completely unique, making a criminal easy to find. I myself am very interested in forensics so i enjoyed both of their presentations. Annie presented something revolutionary- stem cells, cells that can transform in any type of cell that the body needs. This is amazing and it could provide enough organs for transplants as well as cure diseases such as Alzheimer's. Both Simeon and Luka S picked the same topic- cloning. There are two types of cloning- reproductive and therapeutic. It's also proven that clones live less and are less resistant to diseases. Rea's presentation was on genetically modified foods- the goods and bads. DNA is changed so the food will grow faster and last longer. Sara's presentation was on the Down Syndrome, how some newborn's are born with an extra 21 chromosome and can't develop properly. Alon's presentation was on manipulating one's genome, a process founded by Herbert Boyer Stanley Cohen in 1973. Finally, Svetlana's presentation was on blood types- 0 is the most common, AB negative the most rare. They depend on proteins and are found on the surface of the blood cells.


How are the changes in DNA giving us expected and unexpected results? 
Every action has an equal or opposite reaction. Expected or unexpected, positive or negative, messing around with one's DNA will always be viewed differently by society. Changing DNA will sure unbalance an aspect in society. It might be the answer for saving lives or curing our world's deadliest diseases, but as it progresses more and more it starts harming our world. It's starting to get rid of imperfections and changing nature's ways, without thinking of the consequences. Genetic changes won't always turn out as expected and in my opinion they haven't been tested enough to become an everyday activity.


How is science influencing the way society looks? 
Changing looks by designing babies makes society unnaturally perfect. The world needs differences and imperfections because that's what makes us beautiful. A parent has no right to decide whether their child will be a blond or a brunette, blue eyed or green eyed- that's all up to faith. A child is a miracle so by changing it you wouldn't let it develop to it's full potential, you wouldn't give him a chance. The looks of a baby shouldn't influence the amount of love it receives. However designing infants has both a positive and negative side. The good things would be preventing him from having a disease or making him/ her pretty because that is pretty much all that matters those days. The bad part would be getting rid of a rare gene such as red hair or purple eyes. Faith  should be the one to decide looks not a parent who their future child might hate because they would have much rather had brown hair, not blond as their mother "ordered."  Making a society beautiful by changing their DNA is cheating and making it fake. Some might say that's great, while other might disagree.

Do you believe that it is a right of the science and technology industry to engineer and manipulate genes?  If not, is there ever a good time to do this? 
They should only have the right if the people who's genes are manipulated agree,  no matter the case. If they genetically modify food they must label it so the consumer would be aware. Scientist shouldn't be allowed to change genes without mentioning, it's the people's decision whether they approve or disagree. Also they must mention what change they made. If farmers add fish genes to tomatoes, a vegetarian buying those tomatoes wouldn't be happy. The only time when scientists should be allowed to manipulate genes is when a situation (pandemic, disease, famine, etc) is out of control and the only way to find a cure/ solve it is modify DNA without caring what the people's decision would be.


How is Human Ingenuity a positive and/or negative thing in the area of genetics? 
It's outstanding, as long as they use it for improvement in our daily life- for curing diseases and solving major problems our Earth faces such as starvation. However there is always a negative part and that is the consequences. What's will happen if people eat genetically modified food- so far nothing but no one has clear proof of that. Maybe designer babies live a shorter life. There's always a reaction to modifying DNA. It is something fairly recent, that can't yet become a habit, and we aren't sure of the effects it has on us and our environment, although at the moment they seem positive. Some may think that it is totally safe and it has no side effects, and in the future we might use it daily but other people still aren't convinced.

Make the Right Call- Marble Lab

Analyze and Conclude:
2. According to the results in Part 1, all of the offspring will be blue because the of the two dominant genes the mother has, which mask the white, recessive ones. When you look at alleles, there is only one kind- Bb. The Punnett square results prove there will be 100% blue offspring and their alleles will be Bb.

3. According to the Punnett square 50% will be homozygous, 50% heterozygous. The two possibilities will be BB and Bb. However when you look at the data table, the answers we got are different- 3/10 were heterozygous, 7/10 were homozygous.

4. There are three kinds of offsrping possibilities- BB, Bb, bb. From our data, 6/10 were homozygous, 4/10 heterozygous (2/10 BB 4/10 bb 4/10 Bb) The Punnett square answers were obviously different because the model is based on luck not mathematics. The Punnett square answers were 25% BB 25%bb 50%Bb.

5. If it does change, it's all because of faith. You never know which one you pick, so it will always be different and unpredictable.

6. They both show probability and all the possible kinds of offspring the two parents can have, however one is more realistic while the other is based on "facts."

In 2031...

Our teacher asked us where would we be in 20 years from now.

Dear Past Ana, 

My life turned out better than I would have ever thought! I'm married to a rich and famous man, but I, as well, are a renown fashion designer and finished several excellent universities.  I have seven kids and live in a penthouse in New York. My closet is full of labels, my life is full of love and magazines are full of my creations. I have everything I have ever wanted and I have reached my goal. Make my home country proud and make people all over the world give anything to have a pair of shoes I created. Also, a great family that loves me tons and a mansion in southern France. I kept connection with all my old friends, some are truly unforgettable. I spend every Christmas at home with absolutely every member in our huge house. I accomplished my dream of driving to the hospital my father works at in a Porsche, then throwing 1000 euros at his face and leaving.  When it comes to my children, they have everything they desire and I try not to be a helicopter mom. My/ Your life is amazing, can't wait to live it.

Meiosis vs Mitosis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1_-mQS_FZ0&feature=related

It is a video that explained meiosis the best although it might not have been the most funniest and entertaining. However, it teaches the basics of meiosis and gives a good visual of what happens during the process. It also explains why they divide the second time.


While watching this video as well as doing the activity in class I've learnt the differences between meiosis and mitosis. Mitosis is asexual reproduction while meiosis is sexual. Meiosis isn't  greatly different that the other, however it starts with two pairs of chromosomes not one one. So after dividing once, each cell still has too many chromosomes. That results to a second phase, in which the steps are exactly like in mitosis. Also, during meiosis a process called crossover happens to mix the genes from the two different parents. If meiosis wouldn't have a second step, the baby would suffer drastic mutations.


Pictures of Meiosis:

Cancer Warrior Essay

         For a while now I was wondering what would happen if I myself got cancer. And not until a couple of months ago I thought I'd much rather be euthanized than go through chemotherapy, radiation, even surgery. For many people around the world cancer is like a synonym for death and mostly incurable. However over the years our knowledge and understanding of cancer took drastic turns, a major one shown in this video.When Dr. Folkman first proposed his idea, it seemed a joke to many scientists. But from a vague, ridiculed concept, a difficult, almost interminable journey was started and as a result, Dr. Folkman might have really found a cure for cancer. It all started when he realized that tumors need blood vessels to grow, blood vessels basically feed the tumors and without them they wouldn't expand. He suggested that if a tumor would be placed where no blood vessels existed, it would secrete a substance that would make new blood vessels grow. He named it Angiogenesis. Dr. Folkman's idea was that there must be something to stop it, another substance that would make the blood vessels go around the tumor so it would stop its growth. He proved that the tumor does send out a substance than makes blood vessels grow. During the following years Folkman and his assistants found out not only what it secreted, but also what would stop it and in the end, after decades and millions of dollars spend, they formed Endostatin, a possible cure for cancer.
           Pharmaceutical drugs are divided into categories after the way they have been prescribed. Because they are basically medicine their point is to make you feel better. Also they are affordable and accessible for everyone. There are however off-label use drugs that doctors prescribe, medicine that wasn't necessarily approved by the regulatory agency. That is a truly terrifying statement. A doctor shouldn't be allowed to give medicine that hasn't been tested enough, it should be considered illegal. You have to test a drug, to see whether it works on humans, you can't just hope it would work like it did for mice. It is scandalous, it could damage our health, it could as well kill us. Before it can be administered it has to be 100% approved and helpful.
           When doctors should be allowed to prescribe experimental drugs is a debatable subject and surly a problem. In my opinion experimental drugs should given to people without any hope, in the last phase of cancer where they really have no chance. It means none of the methods they tried worked, therefore they can risk it all because they have nothing to loose. After the results, good or bad, the drug can be assessed again. The drugs values should be thought over after testing it on more than a couple of patients so you can be sure it either heals or kills. 
           Fully releasing the experimental drugs before all testing is complete would end up in a disaster. It should only be given to certain people. Releasing it, making it accessible to everyone would as well be considered murder. Because what if it doesn't work, what if it will result as a calamity and millions of people die? However, it might be a cure for one of the most  dangerous diseases in the world. So not releasing it would be considered taking chances for another day from many people who had no clue their sickness had a cure.
           Releasing the drug early can either save or kill. And that's the risk any patient has to assume. There is a thin line between life and death when it comes to it. An unimaginable risk. A person can continue with chemotherapy or radiation and hope it will work, just like it did to million others. The person can as well take a leap of faith, quit that and try a new drug, never proven to work. Although I doubt many would do that, and the ones trying must be really desperate, the results of taking a chance are the following: it can either make everything better or make everything worse. 
           In conclusion, trying out an experimental drug is like gambling, only with your life. Fully based on luck, hope and destiny. It's a risk you assume. But before you even have a growing tumor in your body you must be concerned that it's all because of you. Cancer isn't a diseases carried through genes, so you and your habits are the only one to blame. You have to change your life before cancer changes yours. 

Cracking the Code of Life- One World Reflection

In science we have just finished watching the movie “Cracking the Codes of Life.” As we all know we are learning genetics and during the past weeks we have studied the basics, such as T matching A and C matching G. This movie, therefore, was about DNA.  It was a documentary on the human genome project. However, I can officially say it is one of the most fascinating ones I have ever watched. The thoughts and ideas the movie left me with blow my mind. What humans managed to find out in the human genome project is utterly incredible. It is explained throughout the video from the very beginning, when the human genome project was a vague thought almost impossible to achieve up until the end, when it became a race for who will make history and change our world drastically. The giant step that took years to complete, decoding the entire human genome or simply, the DNA in each one of us. The almost never ending; spiral shaped, microscopic ladder in all of us, also known as the blueprint of life. Because a few decades ago we had no idea what caused cancer while now we find the exact letter in the series and we are working on how to fix it. Can you imagine how much we progressed in such a short period of time? Can you believe that our bodies are made of microscopic cells, all controlled by a nucleus, and in that nucleus, there are strands of DNA, telling us weather our eyes will be blue of brown, whether our hair blond or brown, and even if we have a risk to Alzheimer’s. The movie explained this and much more. Some parts heart breaking, some hope giving, some making you stop and remain amazed at what achievements we succeeded to accomplish.

It was once a dream to have the entire human genome at your service any time; to know each single letter of the DNA. Now however we realize the human genome was a minuscule step in saving lives. In the movie they talked about DNA as well as heredity and the illnesses that come with it. It explained how we can find what sicknesses we will have just by reading our own genes. Also, by looking at our hereditary traits. Sicknesses need both parents to be carriers. Year ago when someone asked us what cancer was and why would you get it, a doctor won’t really know how to explain. Nowadays he can just point a finger at a strand of DNA and show where and why the mutation occurred.  However, we still don’t know how to cure it, and truly, we aren’t even close. At one part of the movie they talked about proteins and a baby sick with a lung disease. It was because one of the proteins wasn’t functioning correctly. There are a ton of proteins produced, and they aren’t a simple to decode as DNA. They are 3D, different shapes and sizes, coming together in different ways we find impossible to decode because as far as we are concerned, they are pattern less. Summarizing, we did manage to decipher our DNA and all diseases that come with it but we aren’t even close to knowing how to fix them. It will be more difficult than anything we have tried this far. 

One World:

Sequencing the human genome may bring to light a number of genes that are the basis for known genetic diseases or that predispose a person to a condition such as heart disease, cancer, or Alzheimer’s disease. Yet finding a gene for an illness many not lead to an immediate cure. Would you want to be tested to learn whether they had a genetic disease or predisposition if no cure was available? Why or why not?

I would accept to be tested. Not only it would save my life but other’s as well. If they would tell me I will have a heart disease, I would do anything to prevent it or at least delay it. If it would be incurable, I would get used to the idea and live my life. If I might but might not get it, I would be optimistic and get checkups at least three times a year. However, knowing some information might ruin your life. It might enable you to have kids, not because you can’t, but because you are carrying a trait that would affect it. I would consider that saving a life as well. Who would rather torture a kid because of a heredity transmitted disease than adopt one? Sometimes, this information might ruin your career, your dreams and your hopes. It would be heart breaking, but you must get over it, and find something else to do. I must admit, if all I would be dreaming of from the age of four would be crushed in a matter of days, I’d rather not find it out. But rethinking, it would save my life and I would appreciate being warned; not just being hit by the truth one day, finding out that for the past years of my career I have slowly been killing myself from the inside. It would surely be easier not to know anything and live your dream but the point is; you wouldn’t survive it.

Consider a scenario in which lab needs DNA samples for use in genetic testing studies. Researchers are searching for a variant of a gene that provides resistance to specific bacterial diseases. If the company finds this gene, it may be able to reproduce a drug to sell to people who have these diseases. Would you agree to have you DNA be part of the study? Why or why not? Would you want royalties for your part in finding the gene? What if during the testing, the company discovered you had a gene that might result in a health problem later in life? Would you want to be informed? Why or why not?

Not only would I agree with being a part of this study, I would be honored. Getting a test which will help cure a disease is like saving thousands of lives. It would be history. If my DNA would be tested and based on it scientist would find a cure for cancer, I’d be considered a hero. However, during this test I might find that I will have Alzheimer’s. I would actually take it as a privilege to know the future and pray that someone would have done the same courageous act I committed so they could find a cure for my own disease. It would truly be unfair to be the one that helped find a revolutionary cure and forget it because of another sickness, but at least you knows how you will end up and even though they still won’t have a cure, or anything to prevent it, you would at least live your life to the fullest and get used to the idea so it won’t seem a shocker.

As more is learned about genes, there is a risk that the information will be used to define certain members of society by their genetic makeup. Identify the meaning of the terms genetic discrimination and genetic privacy. What are some ways to protect against this type of genetic discrimination?

It is completely your decision to share or not to share all the genetic information you find out about yourself. Everybody deserves to either agree or disagree to what will be known to the whole world. If you don’t wish to share that you will get brain cancer in the future, everyone must respect and agree with your choice. Finding out what diseases you will get might lead to discrimination. People will pity you, won’t allow you to do what you want, sometimes exclude you and worse, tease you. It doesn’t matter if the people around you swear they won’t laugh or discriminate you, It is your decision and if it is broken, you must be allowed to punish although it might be too late. In other cases however you might be the person who has the DNA which holds a key to a cure. In those moments I think you should lose the stubbornness and help.

Lab Reflection

Comparing to my last lab I did amazing. I improved a lot, obviously got a better grade and I'm very proud of my progress. I pretty much did everything! Truly the lab wasn't a success and had some errors. So had the format but we re-tested it until it was close to perfect. I made a few minor errors, forgot to mention some details in my procedure. I really put a lot of effort in my lab- graphs, tables, sadly I had no pictures. I found out a lot from this lab about acids, bases, and their effects on each other depending on pH level. However- we did have errors- in my opinion. Although they were small problems and didn't impact our data it still wasn't perfect. 

I'm am very proud of my grade and I think it's one of the best labs i have ever done.