Bio Media report - Xavier Wrenn

SUMMARY

This article is mainly about evolutionary mechanism of adaptation. In this article, the main adaptation mentioned is Sickle Cell Anemia, and how malaria has "selected" for this trait in areas which malaria runs rampant. Malaria is one disease which has shaped human evolution, but other diseases have also like the bubonic plague, smallpox, and cholera. Each disease “selects” for certain traits which enhances the change of one to survive it when infected with a disease to survive and produce offspring, thus passing on that trait. However, sometimes the adaptations humans actually harm or impair other systems within the human body in certain ways. Sickle Cell Anemia, which makes those who have this condition unable to get malaria, suffer from certain effects such as  severe infections, attacks of severe pain known as sickle cell crisis, and stroke, all of which combined contributes to a greater risk of death.

RELEVANCE

This article is relevant to evolution because it enforces the concept the evolution is always occurring and always will be. If some new type of sickness is discovered. the human body will respond to it, or “evolve” around it. Normally, those who have sickle cell anemia would slowly die off from the human population, producing less and less offspring over time, until they are nearly vanished from the population (the gene pool). However, having sickle cell anemia actually increases ones chances of survival in Africa, with the presence of malaria.

CITATION

Sabeti, Pardis. "Natural Selection: Uncovering Mechanisms of Evolutionary Adaptation to Infectious Disease."Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.

URL

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/natural-selection-uncovering-mechanisms-of-evolutionary-adaptation-34539

Victoria Salemme. Evolution: One Way A Plant Protects Itself: By 'Listening'

Summary

       Recent studies done by researchers at the University of Missouri suggest that overtime, plants have evolved to have the ability to hear. They ran a series of tests using two sets of plants. The first set was placed in a room with the sound of caterpillars eating, while the second set of plants was placed in a room that was completely silent. When the two sets of plants were later exposed to living caterpillars, the first set that had been listening to the caterpillar sounds created more of the natural chemical that repels the caterpillars at a faster rate than the set of plants that had been placed in a silent room. They also ran a series of tests with different sets of plants to see if the responded differently to atmospheric and predator sounds. They did. The plants did not produce the repelling chemical at a faster rate when they listened to the atmospheric sounds, but the other plant set did respond like the first set of plants in the first experiment when they were exposed to the sounds of predators. Past studies have also shown that there are two genes in rice that turn "on" when they heard music and clear tones, and corn roots lean towards specific vibration frequencies when detected. Researchers are still trying to figure out why plants evolved to have this trait, and what gives them the ability to detect the sounds and vibrations.

Relevance:

   This relates to our most recent unit about evolution because overtime, the plants with the trait to allow them to hear and detect vibrations have become more frequent, most likely due to the process of Natural Selection. The offspring that inherited and expressed the gene(s) that allows the abilities most likely had a higher survival rate, and have become more common since then.

Source Citation
Quenqua, Douglas. "Evolution: One Way a Plant Protects Itself: By 'Listening'." New York Times 8 July 2014: D2(L). Science in Context. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.

Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=SCIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=SCIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA374043638&source=Bookmark&u=mlin_m_actonhs&jsid=ff9962d3d577e89637728bb409a82256
Gale Document Number: GALE|A374043638

Shayla Triantafillou Term 2 Biomedia Report

Saving the White Rhino: Cloning Over Conservation?

by Kevin Matthews December 28, 2014 (link)

Summary:

Angalifu, one of the six remaining northern white rhinoceroses recently passed away while held in captivity at the San Diego Zoo. With so few northern white rhinoceroses left, conservation and anti-poaching laws will no longer be effective. One possible suggestion for saving these rhinos was cloning.
Even though scientists are not able to do this right now, Angalifu's DNA is being preserved in the hopes that one day, scientific discoveries will allow this species of rhino to be revived. A concern with this is that there won't be enough rhinos to complete this process. With domesticated animals, it has taken over 100 embryos just to produce a single clone, and many female eggs, which are not available from endangered species. This implies that cloning of endangered species may not even be possible at this point.
Another less technical concern is that the habitat destruction, poaching, and climate change that caused the endangerment will not have been solved, even if we manage to save or revive the population. The cloned rhinoceroses would be kept in captivity their entire lives, and the population may never be able to return to the wild.  The overall worry is that we will rely too heavily on the possibility that animals can simply be recreated instead of protected while they're still alive.
Even if cloning to revive the northern white rhinoceros is possible, it will never be an effective method for any species compared to protecting them while we still can.

Relevance:
Chapter 13.3 briefly describes animal cloning, which is also related to individual gene cloning, which we spent more time discussing. The basic process involves taking an unfertilized egg and replacing the nucleus with one from another individual of the same species. This was part of a chapter on genetically engineered plants and animals. The article is an example of how this science is applied to problems that the world faces today.

"Saving the White Rhino: Cloning Over Conservation?" Saving the White Rhino: Cloning Over Conservation? Web. 8 Jan. 2015.

Eric Wang Term 2 Biomedia Report

Article: Bowhead whales may unlock the secrets to a long, healthy life

Author: Kate Baggaley

Date Published: January 6, 2015

Website: Science News

Link: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bowhead-whales-may-unlock-secrets-long-healthy-life

Summary: Recently, scientists have unlocked the genome of the Bowhead Whale. This large mammals genes actually have characteristics to protect themselves from cancer and problems related to aging. The whale can live over 200 years, which makes it the longest living mammal. They also have 1000 times more cells than humans, but at the same time manage to have lower risks of cancer. Scientists analyzed and compared their genes to that of humans, and found many differences, including mutations and duplications, that are tied to cancer, cell division and aging. This suggests that the whales are able to repair damaged DNA much better than humans, as well as keep abnormally dividing cells in check to prevent cancer. The whales somehow do not accumulate damaged DNA, which of course means that they can live longer without developing age related diseases. Since this is still an early stage in the process of unlocking the key to the Bowhead Whale's ability to live so long, scientists hope to identify the specific genes that make the whale so special. 

Relevance: This article relates to the unit we had about molecular genetics because it talks about the Bowhead's Whale's special genes that allow it to live for so long. In class we have learned about genes and how they provide specific traits, as well as the mutations that can occur when replicating DNA. This is also discussed within this article, and how the whale's DNA can repair and keep abnormal cells in check, allowing the whale to live longer without developing cancer or other diseases, which of course is a desirable trait that the science world has always been looking for. 

Anshul Joshi Term Dos Biomedia Report

Making Evolution Make Microbes Make Products


Date Published: January 8, 2015
Website: Scientific American
Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/making-evolution-make-microbes-make-products/
Author: Cynthia Graber

Summary: Genetically modified bacteria has already proven its worth by producing products such as insulin for diabetics. However, this bacterial approach has remained somewhat limited to just a few products because of inefficiencies. A research team at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering has devised a solution to this problem by developing a system to get microbes to produce chemicals faster and more efficiently.The system, drawing upon Darwinian principles of evolution and selection, follows these steps:
1) Insert mutations in specific genes relating to the expression of the desired moleculeThe system takes the bacteria through this process repeatedly, eliminating unproductive bacteria every time. Eventually, the end result found was that the microbes that synthesize the chemical of interest do so with 30 times the output of current systems and 1000 times the speed.
2) Tweak the bacteria so genes for antibiotic resistance are only turned on when the desired molecule is created
3) Expose the bacteria to antibiotics so that the bacteria that didn't produce the sought after chemical die

Relevance: This article connects to two of our recent units: Molecular Genetics, and our current unit of Evolution. In Molecular Genetics we learned about bacterial transformation and modification in order to create desirable products. We specifically learned about the use of restriction enzymes to cut desired genetic code and the use of plasmids to inject this code into the bacterium. Specifically, we learned about the insertion of antibiotic resistance genes in the process for killing off non-transformed bacteria. The researchers use a similar process but also only turn it on when the desired molecule is present, similar to operon gene regulation. Second, the researchers used Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection in this by maintaining only the highest producers. 

Andrew Huang Term Two Biomedia Report

Article: Deadly Coral Snake Venom Variety Has Unexpected Evolutionary Pattern

Summary:

Venomous snake species like the coral snake each have a unique venom that consists of 50-200 toxic proteins. Due to the rules of natural selection and adaptation, genetic resistance to these venoms in the coral snake's prey would pass down through prey generations which would cause the coral snakes to adapt their venom to get around the resistance. Thus, the cycle of venom resistance in prey and changes in venom in snakes was supposed and in theory, this would lead to regional diversities in snake venom compositions. In other words, each population of coral snakes' venom would be varied because of the different cycles of adaptations in prey and predator in their respective regions. However, researchers have recently gathered many samples of eastern coral snake venom in different regions and surprisingly, have found no venom variation between them. This has been the first time anyone has looked at venom variation at this scale which disproves the theory of a co-evolutionary arm race between the coral snakes and their prey which would've caused species to diverge quickly. Currently, there is not an explanation as to what causes the lack of divergence, only speculation, but the results could help scientists develop antivenom for different species of snakes. Evidently, there are different forces that shape the development of snake venom, not the supposed adaptation cycle in prey and predator.

Relevance:

This article relates to the current unit because it incorporates a theory about the evolution and adaptation in different species in response to one another.

Citation:

Griffin, Catherine. "Deadly Coral Snake Venom Variety Has Unexpected Evolutionary Pattern." Science World Report. Science World Report, 08 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

URL: http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/21004/20150108/deadly-coral-snake-venom-variety-unexpected-evolutionary-pattern.htm

Lily Feinberg-Eddy. Evolution of Color in Plants and Animals

Summary

In many species of fish, organisms in the same population are often different color variants. Scientist wondered why one color did not replace the other eventually through natural selection. Scientists examined the red devil cichlid fish which can be a darker grey color (which is more abundant) or a more gold color (which is dominant). The darker fish can change the shade of their color and their patterns to best match their environment. The scientists wanted to discover whether this was why the gold fish was rare but why both fish were still present in the population. By analyzing the fishes’ ability to change color over dark and light surfaces, the researchers found that the darker fish could also change its brightness to match its’ background. Because color variation in species is so complex, a lot more tests must be done to determine why there are color variations within populations. However, the researchers say that the ability of the darker fish to change their brightness, may be key in understanding why there are more of them in a population than the gold fish.

Relevance

In class, we have studied evolution and the process of natural selection in which organisms that are best adapted to their environments survive and are able to pass on their favorable genes to the next generation whereas organisms that are worse suited to their environment die out and are not able to pass on their unfavorable traits. This often leads to organisms in one population looking more or less the same. However, these fish do not which means that both color variants must have traits that are well suited to the same environment.

Article:

Monash University. "Devil is in the detail: Evolution of color in plants and animals." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 January 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150109093727.htm>.