CELL TOUR LINK

http://prezi.com/txkbdt1ymrc2/cell-structure-adventure/

Day 26 -- Y's and y's

Crosses consist of a single trait that, when combined with another subject of the same trait, output four possible offspring from the parents. The trait is represented by two letters: both capital, one capital and one lowercase, or both lowercase. Because the capital letters represent the dominant trait, the recessive trait cannot show unless both letters are lowercase. (If there is an uppercase present, the trait shown is the dominant. This only applies for now....)

Take, for example, the cross of a yellow heterozygous (one dominant and one recessive) and a green homozygous (both recessive) pea. When crossed, a method called the Punnett Square will show all possible offspring from the two parents. In this case, the offspring could be either yellow or green. However, if any offspring do turn out to be yellow, they will always carry the ability to give the recessive trait. (From this example, a child cannot be pure dominant YY because both parents must have the dominant allele.) 

This is a simple cross, meaning there are two letters in each. For dihybrid crosses, we have, basically, the same concept. However, this time, there are four letters (two of two different letters) instead of two! 

These types of crosses are still relatively easy to accomplish. Since we have two different letters in each one, we need to take each possibility and place it up against all possibilities from the second. The hypothetical combination SsYy has four possibilities:

SsYy -- SY // Sy // sY // sy

Now we do the same to the second dihybrid, and we make a slightly larger Punnett square (as seen above). This one, because it is 4 x 4, may have 16 different possible outcomes. However, on the chance that the crosses are exactly the same (e.g. AACC x AACC), there may only be 1 possible outcome (AACC). 

Day 25 -- A Pair of Jeanetics

This guy named Mendel did some experiments with pea plants. 

He observed the traits of the plants while breeding: tall, short, purple, white, to find out which of the traits were shown in later generations. The traits that were passed down, in today's genetic terms, determine which are "Dominant" and "recessive". Mendel's contributions through experimentation changed the world's knowledge of inheritance, and his findings are implemented today. 

These genetics models determine everything about humans as well. The height and color of pea plants are just the beginning: they translate to the height, skin color, and overall genetics of each human being and their offspring. 

(Unit 3 Test) Day 24 -- in HELL

Our test went AWFULLY. 
Well, it went relitively well for some of the smarter people, but most of the information in my brain was cast out by lack of sleep and bad studying habits the night before. My grade turned out to be a low B, one of the worst in the history of Mr. Quick's Honors Biology course. BUT THAT'S OK!!! I'm sure my next test will allow me to make up for one-or-two bad grades. 

 We start our unit on genetics next class. Since Mrs. Blomberg exposed us to the concepts back in 7th grade, I'm sure it will be easy and the test will go well.

Day 23 -- Tonight we dine...

So there's a test coming up....
(Or there was, assuming this blog post was made in the FUTURE on December 18, 2013!!!!)

This was mainly a review day, so there's not much to write. Our Unit 3 Test shall include information from the labs, as well as the process of DNA replication. I am not so keen when it comes to the steps of DNA replication in order: I got a 3 on that quiz. Hopefully, Mr. Quick will allow me to make up the grade. 

We went over the results of the pGlo lab, along with what it meant. Most of the information, as well as some irrelevant information, can be found on my awesome NEW website. 

Wish me LUCK.

https://sites.google.com/site/chrishbiology/

Day 22 -- Protein Shake Synthesis

Today we learned how to synthesize proteins!!!!!!

There are two important steps to the synthesis of proteins....

• TRANSCRIPTION: The DNA is changed to mRNA, which is readable by the ribosomes that later create the proteins. The new mRNA contains all the codes necessary for each chains of polypeptides, which form Proteins in large amounts.

• TRANSLATION: The mRNA is changed into the Amino Acid. The mRNA has its introns removed, which are empty space and do not provide anything of value to the coding process. Caps (A and G) are placed on both ends to prevent antibodies from reading the mRNA as a hostile intruder and attacking it. 

• Once the DNA has been changed, the RNA goes through small pockets in the nuclear envelope out into the cell. Small tRNA link to Amino Acids, and the Ribosomes attach onto a strand of mRNA. 

• The mRNA's "codons", or every three letters in its coding, link up with the Anti-codons in the AA/tRNA combination, and in the middle slot of the three in the ribosome, a chain of polypeptides are formed from that information. (Sides include the entrance, or side A, the processing side P, and the exit side E.)

• When the stop codon "AUG" is broadcast, the process will stop, the tRNA combinations will float away, and the polypeptide chains will be released. 

• These polypeptide chains form the proteins when they come together in large amounts. 

This process repeats for eternity until we die. As we will always need protein production, these steps never stop. 

Day 21 -- Beautiful Flowers and Deformed Limbs

In this picture, the flower has experienced an inherited mutation of its cells. As we learned in the previous chapter of "Your Inner Fish", these types of mutations can be caused by environmental effects (radiation, UV, etc.). However, this effect was caused by a mutation that caused the streaks of purple and white at the same time. This effect (as well as others) may or may not affect its ability to survive in the climate. (While this is a flower, it is probably not affected.)


In the second picture, the extra fingers on the hand are also caused by a genetic mutation, one most commonly associated with the Sonic Hedgehog gene (see last post). This one is the result of excess ZPA gene, which contains finger-development instructions. Containing more of the gene will cause finger production to increase, causing more fingers than usual. (As similar to the Sonic Hedgehog, there are similar types of the gene for production of other limbs.) 

Day 20 -- pGLO

Last night the discussion in "Your Inner Fish" was all about the Sonic Hedgehog gene. Once present, it can be altered with the presence of Vitamin A, with which it causes the development of extra limbs on an animal or person. Viruses inject their own DNA into that of their host, causing changes (that may be used for cancer and disease research in the future.). 

So with DNA at hand, our plan was to add a protein to an E-Coli bacteria culture. 

Our lab is as follows:  
Our goal is to change the DNA of a culture of E-Coli so that it produces a protein that glows in the dark, making each of the bacteria have the glowing effect. We will do so via heat shock, bringing the temperature to a constant heat, then cooling it off for a few seconds, then heating it again. 

We wiped the bacteria, which were added to the small tubes before the heat shock, to each of the petri dishes. One of them was unmodified, which was to produce no change. One of them received no protein for ampacillin, and that one was killed off by the addition of ampacillin. But the other two, which had the resistance, produced much different results. The bacteria culture modified with the resistance to ampacillin thrived even in the harsher conditions. Finally, the bacteria with resistance to ampacillin and the glowing protein activator continued to grow until visible to the human eye, and glowed when exposed to UV light. 

After a few days, the cultures would not continue growing. This is due to the lack of food source (the broth added to the petri dishes), on which the bacteria feast. When there is no food, the process of mitosis stops, and the bacteria can no longer reproduce. 

Day 19 -- Visual DNA

Mr. Quick's plan was to show us DNA replication through paper cutting and taping, etc. It worked incredibly well, and I think it will definitely increase my knowledge of the subject in the future.

We were given the menial task of cutting out small Guanines, Thymines, Adenines, and Cytosines from paper, and taping them together with their pairs. When they had finally been completed, we started the process of DNA replication by making an incision in one of the strands to represent the starting point. We acted out the processes of Helicase, DNA Polymerase III and I, Ligase, and Primase to create a brand new double-strand of DNA, which me and John hung on the glass cabinet. 

Most of the discussion revolved around the structure of DNA. We discussed the the phosphates and sugars, along with the phosphodiester bonds, and their connections during the process of DNA replication. During the replication process, the hydrogen bonds between the left and rights strands are detached by the Helicase instead of the PH bonds. (With the attachment of RNA to prime it, PH bonds are attached.)


(Chapter 6 Summary Here)

Day 18 -- Online Questions Placeholder

Day 17 -- Placeholder for Homework

(Unit 2 Test) Day 16 -- And then there was the...

UNIT 2 TEST!!!!!
Obviously, I did extremely well. No need to comment here. 
Our next unit will involve DNA and actual biology other really cool genetics-linked stuff, so stay tuned!

Day 15 -- Hatchlings

There was a grand total of 1-2 living brine shrimp. I was greatly disappointed, but after thinking about it, the lack of living shrimp was probably my fault one way or another. Daniel and my data were the only ones that were inconsistent with the remainder of the class.

Nevertheless, the lab was still a success! We established that, because the shrimp only hatched in the 0.5 salinity solution, that is the ideal salt content for brine shrimp hatching. In the other groups, there was a much lower rate in the hatching of other salinity solutions. Since our data partially reflected everyone else's data, we could say, without a doubt, that we found the perfect brine shrimp conditions.

Mr. Quick explained the effect that the rainy seasons and dry seasons had on the hatching of brine shrimp. While at times the rain is heavy, the salinity of the water in the Great Salt Lake in Utah lowers. With the lower salt content comes a lack of brine shrimp, for the conditions around them are not ideal for hatching. On the other hand, other types of shrimp that prefer the lower salinity will hatch, and thrive until the dry season. When less rain falls in the summer, the water levels will go down and the salinity will rise. Between the super-high salinity and the average salinity lies the perfect conditions for the brine shrimp to hatch. They thrive until the rainy season, and the process repeats itself.

Then there was widespread reproduction. 
We placed 25 red beads and 25 green beads into a bag to represent gene selection. The red was a tiger's dominant gene for fur, and the green the recessive gene for no fur. Those with the double recessive showed the trait, and were killed off by nature. Once we discovered which lived, we placed all the remaining beads in the bag again and repeated for 10 generations. 

The first generation killed of at least 10 tigers, while the number of killed decreased steadily until there were 5 possible combinations in later generations, all that carried the trait. When some only some carry the trait, it is extremely difficult for them to die out, because the probability of selecting two green (and no red) was very low. 

Had the experiment continued indefinitely, some of the tigers would have survived, for the number of recessive genes was odd, and therefore one would carry forever without dying. 

This is a close representation of our experiment, except we used 25 red and 25 green.