Blog Post #9

          The Brassica oleracea contains many different plants with different features. The characteristic that showed the most variation was leaves. When I look around the garden, I see big leaves, small leaves, skinny leaves, and fat leaves. The characteristic that showed the most range was height. I measured a short, stalky plant as 35 cm. After that, the tallest plant I could find was almost 100 cm. Those measurements just go to show that there is a large range of height in the Brassica oleracea species.
         There is so many different traits in the domestic forms of Brassica oleracea because of all the different genes that are passed down.  Farmers can use artificial selection to make sure they get the specific plant they want. They pick two plants with the two traits that they want, and then breed those plants, also known as selective breeding. Specific mutations like broccoli are able to come from the wild Brassica oleracea plant because of descent with modification, where genes from the parent plants are passed down to the new plant. This way, the natural variations of plants can be controlled.
         The trait that seems to stay consistent is the color of the stems. Almost of the plants are green, and rarely purple. I think this occurs because all plants have chlorophyll, which makes the plants green. The average color of the plants were green. To keep this trait consistent, plant breeders need to pick the plants that have green stems, and avoid breeding plants with purple stems. If the the breeder wants a different color, he would use a purple stemmed plant to breed.

Blog Post #9

Even though all of the Brassica are of the same species they can be very different.  For instance, the texture of the leaves are very different between the different types.  Some of the leaves are paper thin, but some can be up to 2 cm in thickness, while some are in between.  Also, smoothness or roughness is different for every plant.  Some are kind of stickyish, but others are smooth.

All of the Brassica may be so different because farmers may have wanted different traits in their plants.  Using artificial selection, they got the traits that they wanted from the Brassica.  The farmers only breed the plants with the traits that they wanted, or selective breeding.  All of the plants have nearly the same genes, but different genes have been unlocked in each plant.  Farmers could specially modify these plants due to descent with modification.  In descent with modification plant take traits from there parents but it can be just a little bit different.  Breeding together plants with the mutations that you want can help farmers.  Also, natural variation can make plants different too.

The leave length of the plants are very similar.  For instance, the very largest leaf is about 30 cm while the smallest is about 23 cm.  The average leaf length however is about 25 cm.  The leaves may all be large so they can all absorb lots of sunlight.

In order to make a larger or smaller life all farmers would have to do is breed together plants with very large or very small leaves.  Eventually, the plants could become very different.  So that the farmers could get what they want.

Who Wants to Live A Million Years: Analysis of a Natural Selection Simulation

1. It took me four generations to finally win the game, it didn't take me long because i would pay attention to what the person was saying and what they needed so i looked for variations of things that the species would need to survive. I had to look for characteristics they needed to survive in certain seasons. This suggests that most species should have long legs and necks to help them get food from high places like trees and they should have fur to keep them warm in the winter.
2. The phenotypes I choose were the species with long legs and necks and others with fur and long legs, and short necks, they needed to survive when the seasons change and when there were drastic changes in the environment.
3. I think this population of theoretical creatures would be greatly affected by a genetic drift because when playing the game a lot of species had died when something happened out of nowhere.
4. Dominant genes were the long legs, long necks, and furs. They seemed dominant because I saw it a lot in the game.  
5. Species that were fat and furry could survive in cold conditions. Animals that didn't have fur could survive in hot conditions. Animals with long necks could reach tall trees for food and animals with short necks could stay warm in the cold conditions.
6. To improve the simulation to be more realistic I would have many other species competing against each other

GATTACA THEME ESSAY

Eddie Negrete

Period 5

GATTACA Essay

The theme of the film GATTACA, the theme that stands out to me most is the theme of Human Spirit. Time and time again the movie shows how this theme is important.

Jerome is genetically engineering to be perfect, but is certainly not. He is built with all the traits to be an astronaut, except for the part where he actually wants to be an astronaut. Jerome has no desire to be what he was designed to be, so all of his skills go to waste. A person needs to have the spirit and the dreams to fulfill their calling.

Vincent, on the other hand, actually grows up to be an astronaut. Vincent had dreams and goals and had his mind set to meet those dreams and goals. He wasn't going to let anything in his path stop him. He had to overcome obstacles and people tell him that he can’t become an astronaut, but he looked past it and kept on going. Vincent found a way to actually meet his goals. All he had to have was the spirit to push him.

Jerome and Vincent are two different people with two different dreams and goals. Vincent has high hopes that seem impossible to everyone else, but he achieves greatness. Vincent just wants to die and drink all the time, but helps Vincent reach his goals.

Jerome was engineered with practically everything he needed in order to be successful, but was missing the desire to do so. Vincent is an example of a person with great human spirit because with all his circumstances, he still achieved what he wanted to. This film is a great representation of how important of a trait Human Spirit is.

Gattaca Essay

In the movie Gattaca, people can choose what genes they want for their children, they can tell what someone is like before you even meet them just by having their DNA and looking up their profile. Vincent Freeman was an “in-valid” meaning useless. People who didn’t have perfectly, chosen genes were known as “in-valids.” People with perfect genes were known as “valids” they had more opportunities than the “in-valids,” just because you had perfect genes you would automatically get the job you apply for. It’s unfair that if you didn’t have specifically picked genes that you would most likely not get any jobs besides low paying ones. Vincent uses Jerome’s DNA to get a job to be able to go into space because he didn’t have the perfect genes. But in the end Vincent proves that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you put your heart and mind to something it can be accomplished no matter how impossible it seems.

Perfection vs. happiness. Would you rather be perfect and have a life full of no fun and everything is just always perfect. Or would you want to live a life full of happiness without perfection because not everything will always be perfect. Every parent would want their children to be successful and make them proud. Yes you would want your child to have all of the things they need to do what they want. But if they were automatically good at things why would they want to do it, there would be no purpose for doing it, they would find it boring if there’s no challenge that they need to get through. Even if you are good at things you still struggle with some things and that keeps them trying. Everyone is meant to make mistakes you learn from them and make yourself better. Things would get tiring and there would be no fun, if everyone was equally good at everything and had the same skill then what is the challenge.

Many people wish they didn’t have all their flaws, they wish they could be perfect. But if everyone was perfect then things would be boring. Everyone would probably look the same and there wouldn’t be anything unique about anyone. Everybody looks different and has something special about them. Imagine if every parent choose the same genes they wanted for their children. Everyone would be exactly the same it would be like looking at yourself. The world is meant to be different not everything should be the same people will make mistakes over and over again it’s part of life. Making mistakes makes you a better person you learn things from it and work on them.

People have goals and dreams to accomplish such as sports or a certain career they want. If those things came easily what would be the part of trying if you can just get it without putting effort into it. You would have no motivation to do better because that’s the best you can do. Everyone is good at things but they still struggle with it, the struggles help them accomplish their goals. Like for me, I love cheerleading and if i was good at everything in it i would find it boring, doing things and getting it without really trying is no fun. The harder it is to hit the sweeter it feels when you actually accomplish it. When you accomplish something you’ve been wanting it feels nice, you feel proud of yourself and accomplished. If you could easily accomplish it you wouldn’t put much effort into it.

Next time you wish you were perfect, don’t because you are unique there’s no one exactly like you. You are different and it should be like that why would you want to be someone else. I choose happiness over perfection anyday because I would rather be happy with everything I have and love rather than being perfect. My life would get tiring if it was always so perfect there would be no adventure and risks to take.

Who Wants to Live a Million Years Questions

1) The first time I played “Who Wants to Live a Million Years” my species survived the first time I played. It took this long because my species was the correct amount of diversity. This means that if things were perfect in a species that they could survive with little problems.

2) I chose long legs because they needed them to evade predators and they need height to reach tall food. I also chose fur because they are able to survive both fur in the hot time and in the cold time. These worked for me because I won the game the first time and with this combination I won several more games with the combination. I think this is so because this combination of phenotypes could be true to some species as well.

3) Yes I think the creatures in this game could be greatly impacted by genetic drift. Evidence of this in the gameplay is when an emergency is used and a creature is put in the herd with desired phenotype(s). For example when the fruit is getting higher and the animals are too short to reach it a creature with long legs or a long neck can be added into the gene pool as a dominant gene and the future offsprings will have this trait.

4) Long legs and fur were dominant and short legs and no fur were recessive. This is true because at the start of the game if you choose a creature with any of the recessive genes and one with the dominant gene there will be a rise in dominant genes from the very start of the game and the recessive genes will slowly disappear.

5) Cold conditions require fur, hot conditions require no fur, to evade predators long legs are required, and when fruit grows taller the animals need to adapt by either getting long legs or a long neck.

6) I would improve this simulation by getting rid of the emergency button, while genetic drift is a thing the alleles that aren’t common are chosen randomly and the player should not be able to choose what is random. Speaking of genetic drift we do not see it too much over the course of the gameplay; some of these animals develop quiffs but that is not a dramatic allele change which I think the game needs. And lastly the game should show what the animals are dying from (old age, whichever disaster or obstacle is put in place, etc).   

Gattaca Essay

Question: What happens to the unused/ unsaved embryos in in-vitro fertilization? Is that right? What is the difference between that and abortion?

Firstly in-vitro fertilization is where eggs are fertilized with a sperm in a lab this happens when fertilization is unsuccessful in women so assistance is required. Once the zygote turns into an embryo then the couple who the embryo belongs to gets to decide whether to have it implanted, get rid of it, or put it on hold. When the embryo is implanted in the mother it goes on like any embryo would and she gives birth to it a couple months later, but the real question is how do you put life on hold? Couples who are not sure whether to keep the future child or not have an option and that is whether or not to have the lab freeze the embryo. The embryos can be frozen for years at a time and if this is the case then the embryos are costly to save. If the couple does not want to keep the embryo then they have the choice to donate it or have it be terminated.

In GATTACCA during in-vitro fertilization the eggs and sperm are combined to make the best offsprings. From there the couples choose the embryos they want, and the rest of them are terminated. I’m not sure if unused embryos in GATTACA can be donated or preserved so I’m assuming the unused embryos are just gotten rid of.

I believe there is nothing wrong with this. It is completely the parents choice in what to do with the embryo. When the embryo isn’t used it can be saved, but some people don’t have the money to save it so it has to be discarded from the laboratory it has been frozen in. When laboratories get rid of the developing child officials have to either kill it or ask for permission to donate it to another family that has fertility issues and needs assistance. Donating can cause some families emotional problems because they are not comfortable with the idea that they have another child much less that child going to someone else. So in-vitro fertilization is morally right because it gives couples another shot at having children, and the means of taking care of the future offspring are morally right as well because they have valid reasons to back them up.

Disposing of the embryo in in-vitro fertilization is nothing like an abortion. An embryo in abortion is attached to a female and is inside them. If this female can’t take care of her child in the future or currently she must make the painful decision with or without a partner to get it aborted. In in-vitro fertilization the embryos grow outside the womb and with abortions they are inside the expectant mother. If you had a living creature that was your child attached to you for nine months you would get attached to it and it would have an emotional significance in your life. Those feelings are much like those you would develop for a loving house pet except stronger and more fierce. So when one gets an abortion it’s much more stressful and emotional. When the embryo is being developed in a lab the bonding between mother and child does not get to develop. Hence the in-vitro termination is not the same as an abortion.

For me I could not go through with an abortion or getting rid of frozen embryos and I’m sure most people feel the same way. But when financial issues occur and someone is not able to raise a child or keep their embryos frozen they have to part from them. Hospital bills are quite costly and paying monthly or up to seventy five thousand dollars for the embryo can sometimes be unmanageable. But when you can’t pay there’s not much that can be done. I’m all for pro-choice and it should be completely up to the couple whether or not to keep it or have something else arranged.