We had a busy day in class today. You set up your LB plates for the bacterial growth, sampling from areas all around the Kirby Science Center.
After lab you shared your research on tuberculosis and we evaluated the credibility of your sources. Following a quick review of gene expression in prokaryotes, we started to learn about gene expression in eukaryotes.
Homework: Read, annotate and answer the questions on pages 3-6 in the epigenetics packet.
Here are the links we looked at in class:
The epigenome at a glance animation.
GFP Gene control
HHMI Cell's Differentiation
William Li's Can We Eat to Starve Cancer TED Talk
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Evolutionary Arms Race
Today we started our work on bacteria by watching a clip from PBS's evolutionary arms race (below).
You developed a question from the video and your homework tonight is to find the answer to that question and write an annotated bibliography for your source.
What should an annotated bibliography contain?
You developed a question from the video and your homework tonight is to find the answer to that question and write an annotated bibliography for your source.
What should an annotated bibliography contain?
- Complete bibliographic information
- Evaluation of why you feel this work is suitable for your topic.
- Some or all of the following:
- Information to explain the authority and/or qualifications of the author. For example: Dr. William Smith, a history professor at XYZ University, based his book on twenty years of research.
- Scope and main purpose of work.
- Any bias that you detect.
- Intended audience and reading difficulty
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Homework for Tuesday
For Tuesday please complete the remaining questions for the Neuroses article. In class you drew a line to indicate the questions that you had completed in class. Be sure to complete these questions on your own.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
A tiny test and a reading from Genome
Today you had a 'tiny test' (30 minutes) on restriction enzymes, gel electrophoresis and the relationship between genes and proteins.
After the tiny test we started to read chapter 5 from Matt Ridley's book Genome.
Below is a cheat sheet for words / concepts which he mentions. Your homework is to read this chapter for class on Thursday. As you read, annotate the chapter.
Consider the various hypotheses Ridley suggests for the prevalence of asthma. On page 73, Ridley says "That same year a study of a mixed-race population in America...." after you have read that paragraph, ask yourself "How could this be?!" Write down your ideas and bring them to class on Thursday.
Page 65:
alkaptonuria - also known as black urine disease. The excessive acid produced by the body can cause damage to cartilage and heart valves. It is most common in Slovakia and the Dominican Republic. It is autosomal recessive (meaning it is not found on a sex chromosome and you need two copies of the recessive allele to have it).
Huntigton's chorea - a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by involuntary writhing movements.
"your peas are either wrinkled or smooth" - a reference to Mendel's genetic experiments
Page 66:
pleiotropy - the term for multiple effects of multiple genes,
Page 67:
atopy - a predisposition to a hypersensitivity to certain allergic reactions
eczema - the general term for swelling of the skin, sometime characterized by red, itchy skin
anaphylaxis - a serious allergic reaction that can result in death
immunoglobulin-E molecules - a class of molecules in the immune system that are only found in mammals. They confer an immunity to parasites, especially worms. They are a class of antibodies associated with allergic reactions.
asserts: to state or declare forcefully
illusory: based on illusion
Page 68:
isocyanates - highly reactive chemicals
trimellitic and phthalic anhydrides - chemicals used in the manufacturing of plastics
Page 69:
mycobacteria - a genus of bacteria known to cause disease.
Page 70:
non-specific urethritis - an inflammation of the urethra
histamines - released by your body when there is an 'invader.' Histamines can cause you to have a runny notes, watery eyes etc, basically it is your body attempting to flush out the foreign substance.
mast cells - part of your body's inflammatory response.
concatenation - series
After the tiny test we started to read chapter 5 from Matt Ridley's book Genome.
Below is a cheat sheet for words / concepts which he mentions. Your homework is to read this chapter for class on Thursday. As you read, annotate the chapter.
Consider the various hypotheses Ridley suggests for the prevalence of asthma. On page 73, Ridley says "That same year a study of a mixed-race population in America...." after you have read that paragraph, ask yourself "How could this be?!" Write down your ideas and bring them to class on Thursday.
Page 65:
alkaptonuria - also known as black urine disease. The excessive acid produced by the body can cause damage to cartilage and heart valves. It is most common in Slovakia and the Dominican Republic. It is autosomal recessive (meaning it is not found on a sex chromosome and you need two copies of the recessive allele to have it).
Huntigton's chorea - a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by involuntary writhing movements.
"your peas are either wrinkled or smooth" - a reference to Mendel's genetic experiments
Page 66:
pleiotropy - the term for multiple effects of multiple genes,
Page 67:
atopy - a predisposition to a hypersensitivity to certain allergic reactions
eczema - the general term for swelling of the skin, sometime characterized by red, itchy skin
anaphylaxis - a serious allergic reaction that can result in death
immunoglobulin-E molecules - a class of molecules in the immune system that are only found in mammals. They confer an immunity to parasites, especially worms. They are a class of antibodies associated with allergic reactions.
asserts: to state or declare forcefully
illusory: based on illusion
Page 68:
isocyanates - highly reactive chemicals
trimellitic and phthalic anhydrides - chemicals used in the manufacturing of plastics
Page 69:
mycobacteria - a genus of bacteria known to cause disease.
Page 70:
non-specific urethritis - an inflammation of the urethra
histamines - released by your body when there is an 'invader.' Histamines can cause you to have a runny notes, watery eyes etc, basically it is your body attempting to flush out the foreign substance.
mast cells - part of your body's inflammatory response.
concatenation - series
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Investigating Enzymes
Today we spent the first half of class completing the investigating enzymes lab. Tomorrow you will collect the data and we will discuss experimental design. On Saturday you will have a test.
What's going to be on the test? You spent the second half of the lab working in groups to review what we have learned since the first test. Here's some of the things that you came up with:
Lab:
Gel Electrophoresis - placed in wells, the PO4 group is negatively charged so when you run an electric current through it the (starting at the negative side) the DNA segments move towards the positive side. Smaller pieces of DNA move to the positive side of the gel more quickly.
DNA Extraction
Articles:
William's Syndrome (lack of trust)
Stathmin & Timid Mice (fear)
Sports Gene - gene is ACTN3 and the protein is Alpha Actinin. The traits are fast twitch or endurance.
Vocab and Concepts:
Chromosomes (homologous chromosomes)
Loci
Allele
Genotype
Phenotype
Recessive
Dominant
Punnet Square
Restriction Enzymes
Protein shape (how to build a protein)
Plasmids
Functions of proteins (for example receptors - PTC)
Homozygous and Heterozygous
An important note about dominance and recessive: Read this article to help you understand what dominant and recessive really means.
What's going to be on the test? You spent the second half of the lab working in groups to review what we have learned since the first test. Here's some of the things that you came up with:
Lab:
Gel Electrophoresis - placed in wells, the PO4 group is negatively charged so when you run an electric current through it the (starting at the negative side) the DNA segments move towards the positive side. Smaller pieces of DNA move to the positive side of the gel more quickly.
DNA Extraction
Articles:
William's Syndrome (lack of trust)
Stathmin & Timid Mice (fear)
Sports Gene - gene is ACTN3 and the protein is Alpha Actinin. The traits are fast twitch or endurance.
Vocab and Concepts:
Chromosomes (homologous chromosomes)
Loci
Allele
Genotype
Phenotype
Recessive
Dominant
Punnet Square
Restriction Enzymes
Protein shape (how to build a protein)
Plasmids
Functions of proteins (for example receptors - PTC)
Homozygous and Heterozygous
An important note about dominance and recessive: Read this article to help you understand what dominant and recessive really means.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Quiz Tomorrow
Tomorrow you will have a quiz on restriction enzymes, plasmids, gel electrophoresis and the timid mice article.
You will have 20-25 minutes for the quiz, then you will start to go over next week's lab.
You will have 20-25 minutes for the quiz, then you will start to go over next week's lab.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Gel Electrophoresis
Yesterday you were able to practice micropippetting so that today when you did the gel electrophoresis using restriction enzymes you already had some experience. While your gels were running, we reviewing the Williams Syndrome Article and watched this clip fromABC News about what it is like to have this genetic disorder. Diving in deeper to protein structure you made wire models of proteins and worked with Fold.it to practice unraveling proteins. While you were at lunch the gels were stained in Gel Red and after lunch I went back and took pictures of the results. Below is part of one of the best gels. Does it belong to you? Find out tomorrow!
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