Intelligence

After having a class discussion about nature versus nurture, and then leading to intelligence, it is important to understand intelligence and its origin; we need to know the best way for us to actually acquire the most knowledge and apply these skills into our activities and study. Each and every individual has their own intelligence, strength, ways to learn and weaknesses. It is important for us to know in what environment and in which ways we learn the most from. Some people can learn from listening to lectures, reading the books, or doing hands-on projects and much more.

For me, I work best in a relatively quiet environment. I am able to grasp the concepts better when watching videos and answering questions at the same time, listening to lectures, and reviewing my notes.

Genome: Chromosome 5 - Environment

Chromosome 5 is also known as the “asthma gene”. Those who are exposed to pollution are more likely to blame pollution for the cause of them having asthma. Others would say they got asthma because of central heating and fitted carpets which have dust mites embedded in them. Nowadays, people are more aware of asthma, ready to go to the doctor even if it was a mild case, and more prepared to treat the asthma as if it were a cold. Asthma is largely an urban problem. There are manufacturing machines increasing in urban and city areas, contributing to more citizens likely to get asthma. You can also get asthma by transported materials from other country or breathing in certain chemicals like isocyanates and phthalic anhydride. There are a few theories about asthma. One is that asthma was unleashed during the frustration of the worm-fighting element in the immune system. Another theory is that wealthy people stay indoors, heat their houses and sleep on feather pillows which are infested with dust mites. Also, casual contact viruses like the common cold are common because it’s rapid transport and education where children who tend to have new viruses.

Genome: Chromosome 4 - Fate

According to Ridley, genes are there to cause disease and the only thing we know about some genes is that their malfunction will cause a particular disease. Chromosome 4 has a very different disease, the Huntington’s chorea with C*G words repeated many times. The mutations manifested during the middle ages when people have already had children and when there is little pressure on it to die out naturally. Also, the disease worsens if it is inherited from the father, growing more severe. Huntington’s disease accumulates in aggregate chunks. It happens with the brain’s movement controls where out body’s movement become less easy or controlled. Ridley tells a story of a woman that came to Nancy Wexler’s hut to be tested for signs of the disease. After many tests, the Wexler asks the woman what she thinks the outcome is, and she hopes that she does not have the disease. Wexler, knowing that she does have the mutations, does not tell her that she has the disease. Because Wexler did not tell her the truth, she had prolonged the woman’s life because that woman was going to commit suicide if she was told she had the disease. This woman cannot stop the disease that’s already taken place in her body; he cannot escape her fate because the fate is in our genes.

Echinoderms

Echinoderms, which live in all marine environments, have 5-rayed symmetry, mostly radial but can sometimes be bilateral. It has more than two cell layers, tissues and organ. The body wall consists of three layers which includes the epidermis and dermis. Its body cavity has a true coelem. It has a poorly defined open circulatory system. They have a body shape without a head. Its reproduction is normally sexual and gonochoristic. Echinoderms are filter feeders, substrate eaters or carnivores that feed on fine particles in the water, detritus or other animals that floats towards them. They do not have excretory organs but most echinoderms have a through gut with an anus. They have a sub-epidermal nerve net running throughout its body. They also have a nervous system which includes a circum-oral nerve ring with five radical nerve cords; these chords are connected to the sub-epidermal nerve net. Class Crinodia includes sea lilies and sea feathers. Class Ophiocistioidea are echinoderms which include brittle stars, basket stars, and serpent stars. Class Astroidea include sea star or starfish. Class Echinoidea include sea urchins, heart urchins, and sanddollars. Class Holothuroidea include sea cucumbers.

Crinoidea: Sea Lilies

Ophiocistioidea: Echinoderms

Astroidea: Seastar

Echinoidea: Sea Urchin

Holothuroidea: Sea Cucumber

Source: http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/echinodermata.html
http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch33/33_40EchinodermDiversityD.jpg
http://www.palaeos.org/images/thumb/5/5a/Acanthaster_planci.jpg/340px-Acanthaster_planci.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBzy_mp5PbrNu8WIXrsfD4cjnqLewg0qpGLQhaiWq5PGLIUU4bmWFfqJmbxXS80fQTIvAlSIUQJOa4rk5Js_luuKcJ-_vERMAGAw_vsDI7DmGE7LwoOK6Ri-2roOZwgyPy0cfxg32Lmog/s1600/5284ba28ba80d72f.jpg
http://seanet.stanford.edu/EchinoHoloOphio/strongyl_fra580.jpg
http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch33/33_40EchinodermDiversityE.jpg
Images from Google

Genome: Chromosome 3 - History

In chapter 3, Dr. Archibald Garrod said that a gene was a recipe for a single chemical. He later came up with a hypothesis, the “inborn errors of metabolism”. This hypothesis states that genes were there to produce chemical catalysts with only one gene to each catalyst. Garrod further explains that the genes were devices for making proteins and that the inborn errors are because of either the loss or malfunction of an enzyme. The main purpose of a gene is to store the recipe for making proteins. Every protein in the body is made by a translation in the genetic code. We inherit from our parents is a big list of recipes for making proteins and that there are much more protein-making machines out there. Later on, Herman Joe Muller’s great discovery was that genes are artificially mutable, which started modern genetics. By using Muller’s X-rays, George Beadle and Edward Tatum proposed a law of biology where one gene specifies one enzyme. The structure of DNA contains a specific coding all lined up on the double helix, which contains four letter codes, A, T, C, and G. These four letter codes were later translated into twenty letter code of amino acids that made up proteins.

Nephron

Kidneys usually function in osmoregulation and excretion. They help regulate our blood and maintain our body’s calcium levels. After the kidney finishes processing the blood from the renal artery, the blood is returned to the body by the renal vein. During this, the wastes and other substances are removed in the urine. A nephron is a functional unit of the vertebrate kidney which consists of a single long tubule and a ball of capillaries known as the glomerulus. The blind end of the tubule forms a cup-shaped swilling called the Bowman’s capsule which surrounds the glomerulus. The nephron will restore vital nutrients and water back into the blood while retaining the waste products. Filtration occurs when the blood pressure forces the fluid from the blood from the glomerulus to the lumen of the Bowman’s capsule. From the Bowman’s capsule, the filtrate passes through three regions of the nephron, the proximal tubule, the loop of Henle, and the distal tubule, which releases the filtered wastes into the collect duct, also known as the urine and prepares to leave the body.
The hydrostatic skeleton is similar to how nephrons work. To change an organism’s shape and further producing movement, the hydrostatic skeleton needs the pressure of its fluid and muscles. Just like the hydrostatic skeleton, filtration occurs in the nephron when pressure forces the fluid from the blood from the glomerulus to the lumen of the Bowman’s capsule. Both need pressure to start their processes.

Source: Campbell book

Kidney Function Mindmap

Kidneys are two-bean shaped organs located in the middle of our back below our rib cage. They are important to our body because they help regulate our blood and maintain our body’s calcium levels. After the kidney finishes processing the blood from the renal artery, the blood is returned to the body by the renal vein. During this, the wastes and other substances are removed in the urine. There are three major steps to where kidneys regulate our blood are by filtration, reabsorption, and secretion. Kidneys are also important in making sure that our acid/base concentration in our blood is constant. Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/kidney.htm