Death Blog 8

"The brain is born with far too many connections between cells; many are lost as it develops." ( 231). This chapter mainly focuses on the topic of cancer and of how cells tend to replicate. One such case is with the mouse which have CED - 9. The genes fail to develop and the cells not needed, " commit mass suicide." (232) Cancer develops as a result in which cells tend to reproduce and reproduce again in which it results in, "dividing for a whole generation." ( 233) When the cell cannot be stopped in reproducing it self, it becomes cancer. It is believed to be an, "excessive growth of tissue" as well as , " a collection of diverse disorders induced by a multiplicity of causes." (233)It also comments on the importance of catching cancer early in that it may aid in the prevention of more reproducing cells which would result in  mutation development. With this mutation accumulation, the diseases worsen with time. Later on the chapter begins to mention information regarding TP53.

Memory Blog 7

Chromosome 16 is considered to be "genes that allow learning and memory". This chapter talks about how genomes extract, "useful information from the world by natural selection and embodies that information in it's design." ( 220). It talks about how the brain is the one to help with the body such as with supplies or in the realization of danger. The author brings up the issue of knowledge versus instinct. In that instinct is by genetics whereas knowledge must be acquired through experience. He suggests, " learning gradually gives way to instinct," in that in order to learn something we use instinct to make it easier to modify that knowledge into experience. Later he moves on to explore the topic of learning versus heritability. Eric Kandel, preformed a series of experiments in which to answer the question of what makes learning possible. He wanted to learn the mechanisms in which learning occurs and involved his focus on synapses between neurons. His experiments resulted in the discovery of cylic AMP in which its high activity in brain regions.

SEX blog 6

The chapter starts off talking about a five year old girl with  Prader- WIlli syndrome. She shows symptoms such as being extremely obese with tiny hands and feet. It is a rare inherited disease in which children are born floppy and pale skinned. They refuse to feed off their mother's breast but later they eat as much as they can. People with this condition, tend to have small hands and feet as well as underdeveloped sex organs. They also suffer a case of being, "mildly mentally retarded."
They also mention another syndrome, Angelman's. It is when they are, " thin, hyperactive,insomniac, small headed, long jawed, and often stick their tongues out." In men, the inherited disease is carried out as Prader- Willi whereas in Women it is Angelman's.
It later moves on to point out that the gene also remember's history of its origin from the paternal and maternal instinct. In cell's where the gene is active, it often switches off between imprinted versions of the gene.

Self Interest Blog 5

The chapter starts with the statement, " genes [are] far more complicated than it needs to be." It also says that chromosome 8 is the relatively neglected and least mapped chromosome. "Reverse transcriptase is a gene that serves no purpose at all "in that if it were removed from a human at the point of conception, it is more likely that it will not be damaged but will benefit. It also brings the idea that people are made up of viruses in which, " viral genome drop .. the virus's genes and keep just the reverse transcriptase gene." In that the reverse transcriptase is responsible for the replication of many genes, which then causes mutations in proper genes. Methlyation is the process that helps to freeze these mutations but is the first in the development of cancer. It also talks about DNA finger printing which has helped in the field of forensic science as well as others such as paternity.

Environment Blog 4

 The chapter of Chromosome 4 mentions pleiotropy and pluralism. It talks about how single genes do not affect a person's look but rather by other factors.The author comments on how the world is not as simple as one might think but is affected by many different factors such as fashion or nongenetic. A problem mentioned in the chapter involves "asthma," which has a direct involvement with allergies. The chapter talks about pollution and its affect on asthma and allergy. There is a theory that those whom stay away from germs and bacteria as a child are more likely to develop asthmatic systems. It is because another theory states that the bacteria found in dirt is found to trigger a part of the immune system. It also mentions why Asthma is believed to be a genetic disease in that histamines trigger the constriction of air ways which are released by mast cells.

Instinct Genome Blog 3

Many people associate "instinct" with animals. It is because in chromosome 7 there is a gene that determines a person's automatic response in any given situation. Animals live upon these instincts to survive whereas humans improvise. The chapter also mentions how many languages have underlying similarities. Those similarities is what helps to create a universal language. However this realization brings up a great fact in which humans have many skills already acquired but do not act on it because they simply do not know that it has been there. According to chapter 6, the chromosome has been affected. Due to two genetic occurrences, it had seemed that instinct is not an acquired behavior.

Intelligence Genome blog 2

The purpose of the Intelligence chapter is to note that environmental stimulus is important in the ability for intelligence genes to work. Scientist Robert Plommin preformed an experiment on a group of children in which they found IGF2R laying in the middle of the gene. Another experiment was preformed in which Thomas Bouchard, "collected pairs separated twins," and reunited them. In his experiment, he tested their personalities and discovered a connection between heritability, intelligence, and personality. In his studies, he also found that, "being in the same family has no discernible effect on IQ at all." He also concludes to reasoning  that Twins are highly and similarly intelligent because of the womb in which they shared together. Chapter 6 calls upon the Nature and Nurture concept in which events occurring in the womb are the effect of many results when outside of the womb.