Evolutionary Creature Project-Gannetseal

Kelly Diep
Period 1

         The Gannetseal is a creature in the Ice Age that can survive both on land and in sea. It has a pair of flippers that helps it travel on land and swim in water. It is a flightless bird that consumes fish as its main diet which is evident through the type of beak it has. It spends most of its time in the sea searching for food and spends the rest of its time on land sleeping. It has a layer of blubber to keep it warm in the harsh, icy weather. Its coat changes color throughout different seasons; a sandlike color in the summer and a dark grey in the winter to blend into its surroundings. It usually likes to travel in groups of more than five for safety.

Evolutionary Bird

Kelly Diep
Period 1

The bird I created using the pieces has a long beak used to catch fish as its main diet supply. It has two wings used to help it swim through the water while catching prey. Its medium-sized body is yellow-colored similar to its ancestor, the duck. It has blue claws to camouflage with the color of water. It lives in a habitat near a lake or river with plenty of bushes and trees.To hide from its predator, it hides in bushes to avoid it.

Fake Fossil Blog

Kelly Diep

March 7, 2015

Period 1

To make the fake fossil, I mixed a powder with water until the desired consistency. Transfer to a lid and smooth out. After, I applied vaseline to the bottom of my leaf and pressed it into the lid. After it completely dried, I took off the leaf and this is the result. Looking at the shape of my fossil, I can tell that it is in the shape of a leaf/

Mendelian Genetics

By Kelly Diep
March 6, 2015
Period 1

Mendel's Peas

Mendel picked common garden pea plants to test for his research because they can be grown easily in large numbers and their reproduction can be manipulated. Pea plants have both male and female reproductive organs, meaning they can either self-pollinate themselves or cross-pollinate with another plant.  In his experiments, Mendel was able to selectively cross-pollinate purebred  plants with particular traits and observe the outcome over many generations.  Through the selective cross-breeding of common pea plants (Pisum sativum) over many generations, Mendel discovered that certain traits show up in offspring without any blending of parent characteristics.  For instance, the pea flowers are either purple or white by crossing white and purple peas. He allowed all 7 F1 generation plants to self-pollinate and then crossed those offspring with each other to get F2 Plants. He found that in the F1 plants, during fertilization the alleles for tallness or shortness separated but paired up again in the F2 Generation.

Crossing Over

Thomas Hunt Morgan, in the early 1900’s, used a common species of fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to expand the understanding of genetics. Morgan was the first to show through experiments that genes were located on chromosomes. He also found that certain fruit fly traits (e.g., white vs. red eye color) are found on the same chromosomes that also determine their sex. 

Mitosis

Mitosis is the first stage of cell division, and it is the division of the nuclues, Mitosis is split in four phases: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Prophase is the longest phase in mitosis, and by the time prophase is over, the chromosomes coil more tightly, the nucleolus disappears, and the nuclear envelope breaks down. In metaphase, the chromosomes line up across the center of the cell. In anaphase, the chromosomes split into 2 groups, and finally in telophase, the chromosomes become dense tangles and are surrounded by a nuclear envelope. Mitosis results in 2 daughter cells genetically identical to the parent cell. Genotype is determined by the makeup of something called "alleles", the form of a gene that produces different effects. The phenotype is the physical expression or characteristics of that trait.
Meiosis

Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division which reduces the chromosome number by half. This process occurs in all sexually reproducing eukaryotes including animals, plants, and fungi. Meiosis has two successive divisions of a diploid cell of a sexually reproducing organism that results in four haploid progeny cells. As homologous chromosomes form tetrads, they exchange portions of their chromatids in a process called crossing over. The homologous chromosomes separate and new cells are formed. Since all pairs of homologous chromosomes were separated, neither of the daughter cells has 2 complete sets of chromosomes that it would have in a diploid cell. The 2 cells produced by meiosis I have different alleles and chromosomes from the diploid cell that had first entered meiosis I. In meiosis II, the 2 cells produced by meiosis I now enter a second meiotic division.

Natural Selection

Natural selection is the gradual process by which heritable biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms

interacting with their environment.It is a key mechanism of evolution and it was one of Darwin's most famous theories stating that evolutionary change comes through the production of variation in each generation and differential survival of  individuals with different combinations of these variable characters. Individuals with characteristics which increase their probability of survival will have more opportunities to reproduce and their offspring will also benefit from the heritable, advantageous character. Over time, these variants will spread through the population.

Incomplete Dominance & Codominance

Incomplete dominance describes a case in which one allele is not fully dominant over the other. For example: Red roses (RR) and White roses (WW) combine to form pink roses (RW). Many genes have more than 2 alleles. Codominance is a situation in which both alleles in a gene contribute to a phenotype. Co-dominance is a relationship between two versions of a gene. Individuals receive an an allele of a gene from

 each parent. If the alleles are different, the dominant allele usually will be expressed, while the effect of the other allele, called recessive, is masked.

Sex Determination & Linkage

2 of a human's 46 chromosomes are called sex chromosomes because they define an individual’s sex. Female's have two X chromosomes, whereas males have one X and one Y chromosome. Sex-linked genes are genes located on the sex chromosomes. 3 human genes associated with color vision are found on the X chromosome, and in males, a defective version of any one of those genes produces color blindness. Males have just 1 X chromosome, so all X-linked alleles are expressed in males.The recessive phenotype of a sex linked genetic disorder is much more common among males than females.

Genetic Counseling

Genetic counseling is the process in which the patients or relatives at risk of an inherited disorder are advised of the consequences and nature of the disorder, the probability of developing or transmitting it, and the options open to them in management and family planning. Genetic tests are done by analyzing small samples of blood or body tissues. They determine whether you, your partner, or your baby carry genes for certain inherited disorders.

Punnett Squares

A punnett square is a diagram drawn to determine the gene combinations from a genetic cross. An organism is homozygous for a certain trait if it has two identical alleles for that trait. An organism is heterozygous for a trait if it has two different alleles for that trait. Homozygous organisms are true-breeding for a certain trait, and heterozygous organisms are hybrid for that trait. Punnett squares show all possible combinations of a maternal allele and paternal allele combination.

Darwin's Finches Lab-Galapagos Islands

By Kelly Diep
March 5, 2015
Period 1

       I am a sharp-billed finch because my beak was a knife. My partner and I survived all three rounds of the game. My partner and I live on the small island and our strategy for the first round was to have one cup and use our beaks separately to scoop the candy into the cup. For the second round, we used the same strategy which made it more efficient and faster. For the third round, our strategy was different. I held two cups and my partner used two knives to scoop up the bags of candy into the cups. Our third strategy worked the best for candy bags and we were able to get quite a few. For each round, we were able to adapt quickly and survive with enough food. Our strategies worked well with our kind of beak and teamwork played a big role in surviving the rounds.We were well-adapted to small sized seeds because we are sharp-billed ground finches and we were able to gather an efficient amount of food for both of us. We rarely had competition because our strategy was to move all the candy to our side and begin scooping while everyone else was focusing on their own. We made the best out of knives and used them efficiently to do our best to survive the game.

Reference: Google Images

Gattaca: Letter

Dear Anton,
   
        I wanted to tell you the reason why I decided to undergo the transformation to become Jerome. In our childhood, you were always considered "better" than me, but that never let me down. I have always wanted to be the best and my determination resulted in my decision to undergo the transformation. Our parents always thought of you as the "worthy" child and all they did was disregard me. I was a "faith born child". I wanted to be treated better. I wanted to be "perfect", but I would never be unless I changed my genes. My dream was to get into Gattaca and go to space, but I couldn't. I had everything necessary to get into Gattaca, but the only thing blocking my path was my genes.
        I needed to achieve my dream and succeed. I had to change myself. I undertook a painful process to get taller by cutting off my legs to extend it. To become a valid, I had to borrow urine and blood samples to get past security. All my skin cells, nails, and hair had to be burned and I wore false skin over my finger. I also went through necessary dental work like whitening. I used the real valid's, Jerome, urine, blood, skin cells, and hair. As I changed, I used props to disguise myself as the true valid, Jerome. My determination took me through this and in the end, I got into Gattaca. Through this transformation, I finally felt successful for once and it was what I wanted. I hope that you will understand why I undertook the transformation.
             
                                                                                                                  Sincerely,
                                                                                                                  Vincent

Cell Project: Salmonella

Kelly Diep
Shirley Tsai
Period 1

Salmonella

For this cell project,we chose to make the model on Salmonella.

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacteria. There are only two species of Salmonella, Salmonella bongori and Salmonella enterica, of which there are around six subspecies and innumerable serovars. The genus belongs to the same family as Escherichia, which includes the species E.coli. Salmonellae are found worldwide in both cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals, and in the environment. They cause illnesses such as typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and food poisoning.

Salmonella are non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and peritrichous flagella (flagella that are all around the cell body). They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction reactions using organic sources, and are facultative anaerobes.

Infection with nontyphoidal serovars of Salmonella will generally result in food poisoning. Infection usually occurs when a person ingests foods that contain a high concentration of the bacteria. Infants and young children are much more susceptible to infection, easily achieved by ingesting a small number of bacteria. In infants, infection through inhalation of bacteria-laden dust is possible.

The organism enters through the digestive tract and must be ingested in large numbers to cause disease in healthy adults. An infectious process can only begin after living salmonellae reach the gastrointestinal tract. Some of the microorganisms are killed in the stomach, while the surviving salmonellae enter the small intestine and multiply in tissues (localized form). Gastric acidity is responsible for the destruction of the majority of ingested bacteria, however Salmonella has evolved a degree of tolerance to acidic environments that allows a subset of ingested bacteria to survive. Bacterial colonies may also become trapped in mucus produced in the oesophagus. By the end of the incubation period, the nearby cells are poisoned by endotoxins released from the dead salmonellae. The local response to the endotoxins is enteritis and gastrointestinal disorder.

Salmonella can also be detected and subtyped using PCR from extracted salmonella DNA, various methods are available to extract salmonella DNA from target samples.Mathematical models of salmonella growth kinetics have been developed for chicken, pork, tomatoes, and melons. Salmonella reproduce asexually with a cell division rate of 20 to 40 minutes under optimal conditions.

Salmonella lead predominantly host-associated lifestyles, however the bacteria were found to be able to persist in a bathroom setting for weeks following contamination, and are frequently isolated from water sources, which act as bacterial reservoirs and may help to facilitate transmission between hosts. The bacteria are not destroyed by freezing, but UV light and heat accelerate their demise—they perish after being heated to 55 °C (131 °F) for 90 min, or to 60 °C (140 °F) for 12 min.To protect against Salmonella infection, heating food for at least ten minutes at 75 °C (167 °F) is recommended, so the center of the food reaches this temperature.

The bacteria of Salmonella can be found in the digestive tracts of humans and animals, such as birds and reptiles. "Unusual serotypes of Salmonella have been associated with the direct or indirect contact with reptiles (for example, lizards, snakes turtles, and iguanas)." Food and water can also be contaminated with the bacteria by coming in contact with the feces of infected people or animals.