Homeostasis

     Homeostasis is an (ideal or virtual) state of equilibrium, in which all body systems are working and interacting in an appropriate way to fulfill all the needs of the person and/or the body. For example, if you had a man planning to run a marathon in 3 months, it would take tremendous amounts of training and stress on the body. The man would need to run extreme distances every day just to get his body into shape! But, before he started this, he should probably go to the hospital and get tests done just to make sure he is physically capable of completing this task. There are also things called negative homeostasis! These are things like stress, weight, depression, and bad eating habits. These all can cause physical and emotional roller coaster effects on the human body. Viruses, and bacteria can also be a type of negative homeostasis. If you become sick, you're body temperature changes and you're immune system is working harder to return your body back to its normal internal temperature. In our group, we are going to have one guy and one girl take an ice bath in the training room. We will sit in the bath for 10-15 minutes and check our post and pre pulse, blood pressure, and temperature. This should give us a good reason toward explaining what exactly it is that homeostasis does. In this case, it is maintaining body temperature and the heart trying to beat fast enough to carry blood throughout the body even though the whole organ system and nerve system is slowing down due to the rapid change in body temperature. 

To see the second part of our group experiment, please click the link below:
https://docs.google.com/a/lajunta.k12.co.us/presentation/d/1I7BEO7uA46xICn1SkVIongSH8Ctenjb_425lRDJugAU/edit#slide=id.p

DNA Lab

This was the lab that I did with Dallas and Taylor. I was gone for the powerpoint, but I contributed enough in the lab to be in the group. I also added enough in the powerpoint to have my name added in this project.
https://docs.google.com/a/lajunta.k12.co.us/presentation/d/1DV7KaMxfbZl7o1kWOYuEhH1u4pz3iojo59Xya8M0Wcs/edit#slide=id.gc9e817b_0_8

GATTICA questions

1. The following terms were used in the movie. How do they relate to the words we use: degenerate and invalid?
        De-gene-erate
        In-valid
        Borrowed Ladder
They relate to the words we use because we are starting to change the DNA the way we want it in the attempt to create the perfect child. Invalid is used to the words we use today because that just means fake. Now days we try to steal others identity just like they did in the movie.
2. Why do you think Vincent left his family, tearing his picture out of the family photo, after winning the swimming race against his brother?

I think this meant Vincent was strong enough to go on his own and create his own journey. He finally beat his brother and now he was ready to leave. He tore the picture out of the family portrait because he now saw that he didn't need them anymore.
3. Describe the relationship between Vincent and Anton.

Vincent and Anton are like any two brothers. They fight and compete to see who is the best all of the time. Anton knows he is stronger than Vincent because Vincent has the heart condition.
4. When Jerome Morrow said to Vincent/Jerome, “They’re not looking for you. When they look at you, they only see me,” what did he mean? Can you find any parallels to this type of situation in real life?

Jerome meant that they did such a good job, nobody can tell the two apart. And, yes I can compare this to twins because they have the same DNA traits and they look identical.
5. Choose your favorite character from the film. Explain why you choose that person. Would you want to be that person? Why? Why not?

My favorite character has to be Vincent. He knows he has to be strong to be part of GATTICA. He knows what he has to do and he goes the extra mile to do it. He gets so into it he even gets leg extensions to be the same height as Jerome.
6. At the end of the film, you are told that the Doctor knew about Vincent all along. Why did the Doctor go along with the fraud? What would you have done if you were the Doctor?

If I was the doctor and saw Vincent's dedication, and knew he had nothing to do with the mission director's death, I would have done the same thing. I would like to see someone who had the dedication like Vincent did, and would admire that.
7. The technology to do what was done in the movie is definitely possible within the next fifty years. Do you think that Vincent’s world could eventually happen in America? Why?

Yes, I think that anything is possible, and with the new and modern technology, I think someone probably will do it and get away with it.
8. What do you think is wrong with the society portrayed in "GATTACA"? What is right?

Society in this movie is crazy! People are having their DNA tweaked and messed with so they can be as close to perfect as possible. I don't think this is right. I believe national birth is what was planned for us to do. If you are perfect like Anton was, he still isn't as dedicated as Vincent was to get things done.  
9. What were the screenwriters trying to tell us through the episode of the 12-fingered pianist? Is anything wrong with engineering children to have 12 fingers if, as a result, they will be able to make extraordinarily beautiful music?

In my own personal opinion, I think this is wrong, if we were meant to have 12 fingers to play the piano, I think thats how we would have been created.
10. You and your spouse are having a child and are at the Genetic Clinic pictured in the movie. What characteristics would you want for your child and what would you ask to be excluded? Why would you make those choices?

If for some reason I decided to go through with this, I would have my son be healthy, smart, and athletic. I would want a well rounded kid, but not perfect. The main thing is, he is healthy.  
11. Picture yourself as either Vincent, Jerome, or Anton. Would you have acted the same or done things differently if you were in the same world as them?
If I was Vincent, I would of done the same thing because that was what I wanted my whole life. If I was Jerome, I would of done the same thing because I can't walk anymore, so I might as well help someone achieve their own dreams.
12. How does the society in GATTACA resemble the type of society America was during the height of the eugenics movement?

In GATTICA, they are studying the same thing they are now in DNA. That's what Eugenics was.

DNA structure

DNA Structure

The other day in class, Reece, Taylor, Joseph and I created a DNA structure model representing what the DNA structure is, and what it's made of. The first thing you need to know is DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid, and this is what makes us! As you can see, these are examples of DNA structures. The picture on the left really emphasizes the backbone of the DNA. That is one of the main focuses on the picture on the left. The picture on the right is just a 3D structure of a DNA molecule. It is also in a double helix form. When we study this structure, you need to know that the green connectors on the molecules are phosphate. There are 4 parts to this DNA molecule that are holding it together, (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine) and they will have to be paired up. As you can see in the left diagram, Adenine and Thymine will always be paired up. As well with Cytosine and Guanine. The Phosphate is what we called the "backbone" in class. And, basically, that's exactly what it is; it holds the molecule together to make one structure. the structure is made up of two polynucleotide chains. I visited an online website ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26821/) to figure out what the 4 parts of the structure were called. They are phosphate, sugars, nitrogenous bases, and nucleotides. If you have all of these, you have yourself a DNA molecule!

Eugenics Research

Eugenics has been researched and thought about for years. The thought of creating the perfect child has been around for decades! Eugenics originally started around the WWII era. Charles Darwin was actually the first man that realized that in society rich people should be having more healthy children and bigger families. However, in this era, that was not the case. Scientists that wanted to explore the gene pools were called eugenicists.  Eugenicists wanted to find out the cause of sickness in the poor population and how they could possibly change the amount of diseases babies had by experimenting with gene pools. Eugenecisits thought that by doing this, they could prevent poverty, feeble-mindedness-including manic depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, rebelliousness, criminality, nomadness, and prostitution. This was surely thought of as degenerative to the human gene pool by people that didn't quite understand the whole situation and what these scientists were trying to do. If we have the chance to save a baby's life, wouldn't they potentially try to do this? Yes, tweaking the genetics a little bit are somewhat like "playing God" but if we can help someone for the better I think it would be worth the risk.
     There were some great and fearless leaders who frequently read up on eugenics and studied and tried to understand the whole concept. In fact, Adolf Hitler read on Eugenics and believe it or not, the blonde haired-blue eyed men that people thought were to be Nazi's were actually somewhat created about two decades before Hitler even took power! When it came to Eugenics, America was the main founder of this power. But, it was Germany that really accelled and rapidly tried to find new cures. In Germany people were being taken from their homes, and mental institutions, etc. and were being treated. The sterilization numbers were climbing to as many as 5,000 treatments per month!
     As you can see, Eugenecists were right about having the power to scientifically evaluate the gene pool and locate the problem with the baby and be able to fix this problem. The numbers of treatments and sterilizations increased by unthinkable numbers! This data collection below is actually a few years old too, so you can imagine the amounts of treatments now!
                                         

Number of Sterilized From each Condition







• Hereditary-Feeble-Mindedness-200,000
• Schizophrenia- 80,000
• Epilepsy-60,000
• Manic-depressive-Psychosis-20,000
• Serious Physical Deformities- 20,000
• Hereditary Deafness- 20,000
• Hereditary Alcoholism-10,000
• Hereditary blindness- 4,000
• Huntington's Chorea-600
• Total- 410,600

Sources:
https://people.creighton.edu/~idc24708/Genes/Eugenics/History%20of%20Eugenics.htm
http://www.emmerich1.com/EUGENICS.htm
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

Human Chromosomes Webquest

1. What are the three main parts of a chromosome, as viewed under a microscope? The three main and visible parts of the chromosome in the microscope is the long arm, the short arm and the centromere which is the middle of the chromosome.


2. List at least four human diseases that have been mapped to the X chromosome. The X chromosome can actually have a lot of diseases. The four most common types of  mapped diseases include Menkes Syndrome, Alport  Syndrome, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Adrenoleukodystrophy. The picture below is a human chromosome so you as the reader can get a visual understanding.

3. When looking at the summary on genes show the  functions, processes, and components it is thought to be involved in (what’s it do?). Looking at the information on genes, you can see different problems such as how chromosomes are able to carry different diseases. In the Alport Syndrome, different chromosomes are two recessive traits the chromosomes carry to the disease.

4. What disease did you choose and what gene is/genes are associated with this disease? The trait passed down that I picked was deafness. I picked this because I'm fascinated by the fact that people can adapt to not hearing a thing their whole life! I looked at a few websites to understand why people become deaf if it is a problem in the womb or a genetic problem. I read that is in fact a genetic problem.

5. On what chromosome are these genes/is this gene located? I looked on the websites and other websites on google and I could not find the certain chromosome this gene was located at or linked to. 

Questions on clinical synopsis in the OMIM entry:

1. When was the disease first reported in the scientific literature? This was first reported in 1992.
2. What are some of the clinical symptoms of this disease? I don't know if being deaf is a symptom considering this is the disease itself and no side effects or other symptoms (hearing loss)
3. What lab findings (gene function or biochemical data) are associated with the disease?  I only found one known function associated with this disease. This function was called the "gap junction". The gap junctions are formed by humans.
4. What type of inheritance governs this disease?  There are four different types of inheritance: Autosomal Dominant Inheritance, Autosomal Recessive Inheritance, X-linked Inheritance,  and Mitochondrial Inheritance

Below are the main sources I used to find the necessary information to perform this lab:

1. http://www.deafchildworldwide.info/childhood_deafness/causes_of.html

2. http://www.mydeafness.com/how-do-you-become-deaf/

3. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/soundandfury/culture/deafhistory.html

Taste Tester Strip Experiment

In my family, everybody tasted the test strips. Therefore, you can tell this trait will most likely be a dominant trait. If it is dominant, this means the generations before my grandparents, my mom, and I would of most likely been able to taste the strips if they were still alive. generally the trait runs through the family and will continue to be passed down from generation to generation because having this trait is dominant in my family.