New Year's Goal

1. I will complete my 20% time project in Biology. I will write out the scientific method for completing the 20% time project. I will research Tesla Motors and electric powered engines.

2. I will become a eagle scout before I graduate from high school.





I am currently First Class in Boy Scouts.

Unit 5 Reflection

The unit was about different types mutations like point mutation and the frameshift mutation. Also, I learned was the substitution, translation, and translocation. In this unit, I also learned about gene expression and regulation and Eukaryotic Regulation. The genetic code, walking the dogma, central walking dogma was also learned in this unit.

I learned that mutations are a change in the DNA code. I also learned that anything that causes a mutation. I learned about point mutation are a change in one or two base pairs of DNA. In frameshift mutation, there are 2 types insertion and deletion. Insertion is an extra base pair is put in the code. Deletion is a base pair is left out of the code. In other mutations, the inversion DNA breaks off and bonds in reverse order.

In gene expression, every cell in your body has the same DNA but not all cells look the same. Also, gene regulation is cells don't want to waste energy or overexpress genes, thus have a variety of steps used to control gene expression. 

Eukaryotic Regulation is also I learned about. It involves with Exons and Introns. After transcription sections of the gene are removed. Several proteins will bind before a gene and are required for the gene to be expressed. It needs more complex than bacterial regulation.

In the DNA Extraction Lab, I actually saw my own DNA. I found it interesting to see my own DNA.

Protein Synthesis Lab

1. The enzyme attaches to a piece of DNA called a gene.  The enzyme makes the copy of the DNA called mRNA. The mRNA goes out of the nucleus. The mRNA bonds with the ribosome. The ribosome reads the mRNA sequence and its codons. The codon correspond to a certain amino acid. Amino Acids are added together by the ribosome.  When the mRNA is finished the amino acids that are added together make a protein.

2.  The mutations that have the greatest effect are deletion and insertions. The mutation that has the least effect is a substitution.  The deletion and insertion  mutations have a bigger effect when it is near the beginning of the sequence because all the codons after the mutation will be affected.

3. In step 5 I deleted the first base pair because I believe it would cause the greatest change. There would be no start codon so the protein won't start where it usually does. Also, all of the codons afterwards would change  and make different amino acids. Since the mutation occurred in the beginning of the sequence,   the protein is changed more than if the mutation was at the end. If the mutation was at the end then not as many codons would be affected. 

4. Ectrodactyly is a disorder where humans have a cleft where the middle finger or the middle toe should be. As the result, the hands or feet look like claws. This caused by deletions in chromosome 7.

DNA Extraction Lab

In this lab we separated DNA from cheek cells in order to study it. I found the homogenization, lysis, and precipitation results in seeing my DNA.  First I swished the Gatorade in my mouth the Gatorade was the polar liquid. This was the homogenization stage. Next was the lysis stage. In this phase, I put soap and salt in order to emulsify the lipids and proteins of the cell. We further broke it down to the histones. Before the precipitation stage, we added the catabolic proteases which were pineapple juice breaks protein called histone. In the last stage, we added alcohol. The alcohol is nonpolar and polar is the mixture was on the bottom. I could see my DNA where the two mixtures came together.

My hypothesis was supports because in the nonpolar liquid we could see the DNA isolated because the DNA molecule was polar. While our hypothesis was supported by our data there could have been errors due to the group  doing the steps out of order. We could have added too much soap. We could have added too much pineapple juice.

Unit 4 Reflection

This unit is about the sex and the Punnett square and the different types of inheritance. A Punnett square is a square that helps predict the probability of getting certain traits. I also learned about sexual vs asexual production. Asexual reproduction requires only one parent and offspring are genetically Identical. Sexual reproduction requires only two parents and each parent contributes half of offspring's DNA through sperm or egg.  My strengths in this class were shown when watching videos because I am a visual learner. My weaknesses are having to analyze and write after class when it is not fresh in my mind. I had a hard time learning about genetics because there's a lot to remember.  I am good at putting the Punnett square together because it involves math and is straightforward and you don't have to remember a lot about genetics to be good at it. I learned the basics of asexual and sexual reproduction and how to generate genes. The infographic helped me to understand why genetics is important. Overall, I learned a lot from this unit. I know a bit about the Punnett square but I think there is much to learn. I am a kinesthetic learner and I need to do something physical to learn a concept. My preferred learning styles are visual (4) aural (3) read/write (4) kinesthetic (9).  I was surprised how much of a kinesthetic learner I am. I think that when I prepare for the next test, I will make sure to do interactive kinds of studying. Using the internet to show me and working with my hands through drawing and labeling, etc.

Coin Sex Lab Relate and Review

In the Coin Sex Lab, we predicted the probability that certain genes will appear  in human traits.  The alleles were different in each prediction of traits. autosome is not a sex related chromosome.We studied gene segregation. My expected results was 50:50 in the ratio to males to females. My results were not 50:50 they were 2:3. The probability of having a bipolar child is 50:50. The results were off. My results were high that the child would have bipolar which is 70% not 50. The probability is 25% to have a child that has colorblindness which is an  X-linked inheritance.I result were a little high with results of 7:3. My results with the dihybrid traits my results very high with traits brown hair, blue eyes which is homozygous or monohybrid. My results in brown eyes were heterozygous and homozygous but my results were small. My results were 7. The limit is only as good as using a perfect solution. Perfect results sometimes it happens and sometimes they don't. I received the combinations of certain traits from my mother and father and resulted in me. My sister has a recombination of traits from the same parents that resulted in her.

Genetic Infographic

https://magic.piktochart.com/editor/piktochart/9171922#

Above is the link to my infographic.