A Matter of Selection

by Ryan Keeney

                1. The leaves of the Brassica oleracea definitely show the widest range of variation. Differences range in everything from color to size. For example, while our kohlrabi leaves measure only 12 centimeters from stem to tip, the collard and kale plant leaves have grown to over 20 centimeters each.


                2. There is a large amount of variation in domestic Brassica oleracea because each of the different variations has been created through selective breeding. Although the basic genes in the different subspecies of plants are the same, due to this breeding, certain alleles which control different phenotypes are favored over others. The first Brassica oleracea plants already had very small natural variations. Farmers would use artificial selection to accentuate these natural traits that already existed, depending on what they needed. For example, they may want to breed plants with a higher resistance for cold or an increased food yield. Through descent with modification, the different plants would slowly become more and more unique, with better versions of whatever traits are being bred for. Mutations also produce new traits which may also be seen as desirable, which can also be accentuated through natural selection.

                  3. A characteristic that is shared between all of the different subspecies of Brassica oleracea is the width of the stems. The stems of all of the plants are all around 1 centimeter thick, whether they are broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, or cabbage.

                  4.  If farmers wanted a plant to have larger leaves, which would increase food output, they would only allow plants with the largest leaves to breed, giving the offspring large leaves. Then, only the offspring with the most desirable characteristics would be allowed to breed, and this cycle would continue until the leaves reached the desired size.

Who Wants To Live A Million Years Questions

1.It took one generation for me to win the "who wants to live a million years" game. It only took one try for me to win the game because I guessed which traits would be the most helpful. This is similar to a real species because, when a species has traits that work well with their environment, they will benefit and live longer as a species.

2.The phenotypes I used the first time I played the game were long legs, fur, and the long neck. I chose these traits because they seemed like things the game would require for the creatures to live longer. I assumed that there would be a problem with the weather and food so I gave my creatures traits that would help them overcome these possible problems. It turned out that I was correct in my assumption and these were the traits that helped my creatures survive. As I stated earlier,  I believe that these were the things that helped them to reach the food, run from things that posed a possible threat toward my creatures, and to keep them warm in the winter.  

3.I think that this population would be greatly affected by genetic drift because it would either help the species to move forward and evolve or give them a weakness.

I saw the effects of genetic drift in my species when something would wipe out all but a couple of the creatures and then suddenly the new group would mostly have their traits.

4.The color allele seemed to be the dominant trait because when one of the creatures was red or green, over time all of the creatures seemed to change to that color. The recessive trait seemed to be the short neck because the species neck's grew longer after a while.

5.(a) cold conditions; fur

  (b) hot conditions; less fur

  (c) new large predator on the scene; stripes, long legs

  (d) new tall food source; long neck

6. To improve this simulation I would have more problems for the species to encounter, more phenotype options, and increase the time.

 

A Matter Of Selection

 

The Brassica oleracea all seem to have vastly different leaves as they all vary in color, shape, and size. Some of the plants have huge curled leaves, while the leaves of our plant are still small and simple. Our plant, kohlrabi, has leaves that measure 12 cm from stem to tip. However, most of the plants are bigger than this. The collard’s leaf measures 23 cm from stem to tip and the kale plant’s leaves measure 21 cm from stem to tip.

The Brassica oleracea has lots of variability in its different plants which is most likely an effect of selective breeding. It is also a good example of descent with modification as a variety of plans in this family all are descents of a single plant that has been affected by a variety of modifications over time, resulting a various separate plans ranging from cabbage to broccoli. For instance, in a location that is cold, a farmer might selectively breed out plants that cannot handle frost and cold weather. On the other hand, these geographic variables can also be the result of natural variations, such as plants that cannot handle frost, can’t survive in an area with a cold climate and a lot of frost or snow. In addition, farmers can have certain traits in their plants that provide more of an appeal to their customers such as flavor or color.Sometimes these variations are not necessarily intended, but are mutations to the plant. These genes are important to creating the specific plants that a farmer wants, ensuring the desired traits or attributes.  So through selective breeding and artificial selection theses plants have certain traits that become more prominent.

 

The one characteristic seen in the Brassica oleracea that appears to be consistent is the stems of the plants. The plant’s stems seem to have very close measurements. The kohlrabi, for example, stem is about 1 cm in width. Similarly, the collard’s stems is 1 cm in width. I think that this has stayed the same because this has proven to be the most helpful size for the plant stems to be.  

To get the characteristic they want, plant breeders have to get plants with the characteristics that they want to see in the offspring. Over time the plants will continue to have the characteristics selected and those characteristics not selected, will disappear.

Post #9

I am observing the height of each of the plants because that feature varies the most out of the other features and has the greatest range.  The leaves on all the plants are generally the same size along with the color of the stems and leaves but the stem length has extremes.  The shortest of the Brassica oleracea is the cabbage with a height of 10 inches while the tallest of the species is the broccoli at 42 inches.  That's a difference of 32 inches.  The ones in the middle include the kohlrabi at 9 in and the collards and 7 in.

There is a great variety in the types in the Brassica oleracea  because the genes of the plants have changed due to the change they have experienced in their environment. The height of the plants could have also been selectively breed to have the best color and growth rate so farmers make the most money.  This happens all the time and it is called artificial selection with most foods and sometimes animals.  When the plants are breed together they pass down certain traits that the offspring will pick up and have those to pass on.  In the wild there is decent with modification and that involves plants passing down certain genes through out generations of plants and the genes slowly shift one way.  Also there are freak events in our genes that can create a harmful or helpful or passive mutation that can affect a species.

The most similar feature in the garden between is the color of the leaves.  Most of the leaves are a dark sage green while the outcasts include the cabbage and kale.  The cabbages leaves are purple and the kale has a darker green than the others.  This is because this shade of green is dark enough to absorb more sun and light enough to not burn when exposed to bright sun.

Plant breeders would breed together specific plants together.  They would pick the plants with the perfect leaves so those features pass on to the offspring giving them that characteristic.  THey would do this over and over to get the perfect color of leaves.

Who Wants to Live a Million Years Questions

By Ryan Keeney

                1. It only took me one try to create a species that would survive for 1000000 years. It probably took this long because I got pretty lucky the first time. It would normally probably take several attempts to get the right mutations and conditions for them to survive that long.

                2. The first three initial phenotypes I chose were tall and green, short and furry, and short and striped. The starting initial combinations that helped the population were any combinations which contained a lot of diversity between phenotypes. They had a higher chance of adapting quickly to new situations.

                3. Genetic drift could create a new phenotype, which may help the species to adapt to changing conditions. It could also get rid of a phenotype completely which may or may not be beneficial. Evidence of genetic drift in the game include the sudden addition of a new phenotype that was not one of the initial three, or a certain phenotype suddenly disappearing. This was sometimes harmful, and sometimes beneficial.

                4.  Traits that were dominant over other traits included colors. If a red or green individual was included as one of the initial phenotypes, the color would quickly overtake the rest of the population. Things like fur or stripes often seemed to be more recessive, and would generally overtake the population only if there were 2 or more with those traits in the initial phenotypes.

                5.  Cold conditions favored furry creatures. Hot conditions favored creatures with no fur. New predators were less likely to kill creatures with longer legs or stripes, which either let them camouflage or run faster. A new tall food source favored creatures with either long legs or long necks who could reach it.

               6. I would improve this simulation to better mimic evolution by giving it a longer time span, adding more obstacles such as flooding. I would also add other species, which could be used to demonstrate coevolution, as well as competition. 

Gattaca Essay

The idea of genetic engineering was once the domain of science fiction, with movies depicting armies of identical soldiers intent on taking over the world. The concept of genetic engineering is common knowledge for the majority of people today. However, the idea of this is usually associated with genetically modified food, as it has become an everyday thing in our society. While people read about the unknown hazards of genetically modified foods, they don’t tend to be overly worried that their tomatoes last an inordinately long time all thanks to genetic modification. It is very different though when humans are involved. The idea of genetically modifying is very controversial because while the human race could be improved, there would be many problems that would arise from it.

   

Throughout history, parents have waited for their children to be born, hoping for a certain gender. Mothers-to-be ate certain foods and slept certain ways, all in a misguided effort to influence the gender of their child.  This is because, in many societies around the globe, there is certain value placed on specific genders. In many societies, a higher value is placed on male children. Especially, in societies where the number of children is limited, the idea of have a male child is considered critical to the support of the family as well as the survival of the family ‘name’.

The natural balance of male to female children would be forever changed with genetic engineering. It seems like a harmless idea at first because parents are just given the opportunity to choose the gender of their child. However, in societies where a male child has higher value, the balance of children born would tip precariously with too many male children and few choosing to have the less desirable female children.

A child’s sex is not the only thing that could be controlled with genetic engineering. Parents would be able to select traits that the deem more desirable for their children. It might be eye color, or strong bones, but partners would begin the select what their ideal child would look like. This would affect natural selection, where traits that might not seem important lead to healthier and healthier children over generations.

Bringing it back to the genetically modified food, we have traded the taste among other things just for the longevity and size of the plant. If we genetically engineered humans we might end up doing the same thing. We might end up trading creativity and individuality for this perfection.  

Gattaca Essay

by Ryan Keeney

If a couple had a baby who died and could not have any more babies, but had the opportunity to clone their baby, should they be allowed to clone it?

This question raises many, very deep questions that would be almost impossible to answer within this essay. It raises both ethical and legal issues, some of which are very controversial. That being said, in my opinion, if a couple has a baby who dies at any point, from a purely technical standpoint, should be allowed to clone it.

To begin with, does a couple have the legal rights to their genetic material? This question can be answered by looking at somewhat similar procedures that take place in our current society. When couples go through the process of modern procedures like in-vitro fertilization, they have the rights to their own frozen embryos. This sets a precedent for future procedures that face a similar issue, such as the cloning of a deceased child. But that only works for embryos and newborns. If the child is born, and lives for a few years before dying, would their unique genetic code be considered their property, and therefore, not technically available to be used by the parents to clone the deceased child? Would the child have to give consent before death? In my opinion, if the child is too young to understand what being cloned means, and they are still immature, the responsibility of determining what happens to their genetic material if they die should lie with the parents. After all, parents in today’s society control pretty much everything involving a child’s health, including whether or not they receive medical care, get vaccinated, or go to the doctor. Should their genetics be treated any differently?

If the parents did decide to clone a child who had been alive for a significant amount of time before, would they simply be treated as the original person once they grew up? If the clone knew that they were in fact a copy of someone who had lived before them, they may feel alienated, or like a replacement. A similar phenomenon occurs in children who are adopted who, once they find out, feel different or separated, especially if they have siblings that are biological children of the parents. Therefore, I believe that if a couple does make the decision to clone their deceased child, the clone should not be informed that he or she is a clone until he/she is ready.

As with most things involving tampering with genetics, this would raise several ethical and moral issues. For example, the cloning of a child that died at birth or as a newborn would almost certainly be viewed differently from the cloning of a deceased teenager or even adult. Another ethical issue that would be faced by the parents would be if the child died due to abuse or neglect by the parents, would the parents be allowed to try again? The first issue regarding the age of the potential cloned person at the time of death is probably the most difficult to answer. Personally, I would only have this procedure done if the child was stillborn or miscarried. However, it is completely up to the parents as to if they should clone their child or not. Another, simpler question to answer is whether a child who died due to abuse or neglect by the parents. To me, if the parents are deemed unfit to care for the child, they should not be allowed to clone him/her unless they can guarantee that the child is placed under the protection of another responsible legal guardian, such as a grandparent or other trustworthy family member.

In conclusion, the idea of cloning a child who died because a couple could not have more children raises many ethical and moral questions. However, in my opinion, the procedure should be allowed if the safety and well-being of the child is insured.   

Gattaca essay

Science Gattaca Essay

       Scientist are debating genetically modifying trees so they grow faster and absorb more carbon to solve global warming. This idea is a good one for multiple reasons.

     If we modify trees to grow faster, than we can plant more and have them grow over unused land.  We would then be able to rebuild the rainforests which will then help diminish extinction of species.  The growth rate really affects our lumber industries too.  These factories can't clear cut so they have to wait while more trees grow and then cut them which takes years.  With faster growing trees we can cut more often and not worry about destroying ecosystems.  

    If the trees are able to absorb more carbon we can slow global warming and produce more oxygen.  We can save our planet slowly but efficiently.  The trees would prosper and thrive and species will blossom.  We never really get back the ozone but we can stop destroying it.  Also the planting of these trees affects everywhere even the melting ice caps.  If these trees stop global warming and the Earth goes back to the way it was before, we can save the ice caps and the animals living there.

    There is a downside. With genetically modified trees there could be a disease that could go through and kill them all and destroy all life on Earth.  Also with trees that absorb more carbon and produce more oxygen that can create more oxygen than needed and affect everything and may even kill.  If our carbon level goes back to normal but the trees still absorb more than those levels will drop and cause problems in the world.  

   Genetically modifying trees is a good idea but has some downfalls.  We can save the world but also destroy it.

Gattaca essay

GATTACA ESSAY

Divina Rodriguez

Mr.Bursch

Honors Biology

13 January 2014

According to Vincent, discrimination against degenerates like him is racism or classism. "It’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of genetics genoism it’s called ,but no one takes the laws seriously." Likewise, the genetically unenhanced are referred to by derogatory names, such as "faith births”,”God children" or the official term, "in-valids." In-valids who illegally use the genetic profiles of "valids",the genetically enhanced, are called "de-gene-erates" or "borrowed ladders." Meaning this caused some challenges for Vincent.

Several scenes portrayed physical barriers that illustrates the obstacles GATTACA’s society places in the path of degenerates. One scene shows the new "glass ceiling" that exists. This ceiling represents genetic discrimination that  is illegal but openly practiced. Vincent, who’s "borrowed ladder" status as Jerome could only get a job as a janitor at Gattaca. This is shown when Vincents face pressed against a window looking up at the valids who work inside as they rising escalators. Similarly, Vincent is often shown gazing up through a skylight as Gattaca’s rockets skyward, leaving him forever below.

These glass barriers materialize the challenges faced by Vincent, who should legally be able to work on the inside but is shut out due to the discriminatory practices of GATTACA’s society. Despite the fact that he has studied hard and is mentally prepared for the job, "the best test score in the world wasn’t going to matter unless I had the blood test to go with it”.

Discrimination against the in-valids shows that genetic descrimination is the true problem of the world. In this case, the genetically enhanced should always perform better than the genetically unenhanced and genetic discrimination is justified.

Evolution Question

1. I never survived for 1 million years.  All of the creatures died off from all the scenarios.  This correlates with Earth's species because a lot of  species die off through out history.
2. I chose the tall, furry, long necked ones and this survived the longest even though I didn't win.  They were the best suited for most situations just not all.
3. This population will be greatly affected because there is usually only one with the right phenotype and the population is so small.  When u add the mutation it usually dies before spreading its trait.
4. Tall, furry, tall, and dark were dominant traits while striped, fat, naked ones were rarely seen.
5. A, fat,small,furry. B, thin,bare,long neck, long legs. C, long legs, stripes. D, long legs.
6. More variety in mutation and the red and green colors should affect the creatures.  Larger variety of natural disasters and different types of predators.  Different food sources.

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

1. It took me 7 generations  to finally survive a million years. It took me this long because I had to start off by choosing a variety of birds, While going along I had to make the strategic choice and mutate my original species. For Earths species I believe it will take a long period of time for a certain species to adapt to a new environment. They may not automatically survive at first but through the years they will adapt to the right conditions.
2. My initial phenotypes combinations where tall, short and hairy, and short with stripes. The short with stripes seemed to survive the longest. I think this happened because when their smallness helped them hide in smaller areas, as well as move faster along the ground.
3. Yes I do believe genetic drift can affectedly change a species population, because generally there is a specific phenotype that can survive in the environment.
4. Furry stripped ones mostly survived whereas the tall naked ones were rarely seen.
5. A.short,furry,fat and stripped B.Tall, Long necks and legs, no hair C.Stripped long legged ones D.Long leg and necks
6. I think have a more vast of variety. Being able to chose from more mutations. Including colors,lengths and deficiencies. 

Assignment #9: A matter of selection

     The traits I will be measuring and recording are the height of the plants. I chose to do this because height varies from the genes  different types of plants even within the same species. Study the plants  observations there has been a wide range of heights. I will be specifically be looking at the Brassica (cabbage), the Broccoli and my plant, the Kohlrabi. The shortest coming in at 10 inches is the Brassica. Then at the tallest is 40 inches which is the Broccoli. In between is the Kohlrabi at 16 inches. The difference between the tallest and shortest is 30 whole inches! This represent the vast majority of heights between species because of the environments and how fast their mutations are. Though some farmers and food processors have done selective breeding to either largen and or fasten the growth rate of their plants. This process is known as artificial breeding. The breeding of plants to get desirable traits to stop natural variations. The most similar feature of all the plants would be their leaves. They were mostly around the same color and lengths. All were a darker shade of green.Plant breeders would breed together specific plants together.  They would pick the plants with the perfect leaves so those features pass on to the offspring giving them that characteristic.  THey would do this over and over to get the perfect color of leaves.