Biology week 2 assignments

* Post your thoughts on Evo-Devo

Evolutionary developmental biology, or "evo devo,” is a field of biology that combines the evolutionary and developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them. What is interesting about the field is that it addresses both embryonic development and evolution, focusing on how change of and between species develops. What is unique about the knowledge that has been produced from this field is the concept that evolution alters developmental processes to create new structures from already existing gene networks.

For example “evo devo” research led to the discovery that the genes that are involved in making fruit flies and humans are fundamentally the same. Crazy to the western mind! What has come out of this knowledge is a better understanding that the same genes are used over and over again, just in different combinations and contexts to produce incredible diversity.

*How does Darwinism matter to you?

Evolution by natural selection was the central concept Charles Darwin's work. Natural selection is considered by some evolutionists to be the biggest factor to influence the diversity of species and their genomes. However, neo-Darwinists argue that natural selection does not offer a satisfactory explanation for the source of new genetic information from which natural selection could select. Epigenetics offer additional explanations of evolution, focusing on research that demonstrates that what happens during the course of a life span can affect how genes express themselves in future generations. There is growing evidence of genes being transferred not just vertically, from grandparents to parents to offspring, but also horizontally, between organisms. Evidence of horizontal transfer throws a wrench in Darwins theory and muddels are current definitions of species.

Biology Week 1 Assignments

* Post a short bio introducing yourself

Sara is characterized by her obsessive, sometimes inappropriate curiosity. She loves to learn- about most anything really- so long as it strengthens her relationships with others and the universe. With an appreciation for varying ways of thinking, perceiving, and general sense-making, Sara treats everyone as a teacher and every experience as a lesson. She has a unusual sense of humor, lacking in the ability to remember jokes, but constantly cracking them. Really, humor just helps her learn.  All and all, she looks forward to another semester with Proffesor Spears and her ACCHS classmates, only this time learning a thing or two about biology.

* Post your thoughts on one of the discussions in class to your blog.

Unfortunately, since I missed the first week of class I was unable to participate in the first discussion. However, I was very intereseted in the article on synethesia- the neurological  phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic and involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.

After researching synethesia I learned that approximately one in 27 people has some form of synesthesia. Recent studies show that in the U.S. three times as many women as men have synesthesia. Also, synesthetes are more likely to be left-handed than the general population and appear to have inherited the trait.

Some synesthetes hear, smell, taste or feel pain in color. Others perceive letters and words in color. Some, who possess what researchers call "conceptual synesthesia," see abstract concepts, such as units of time or mathematical operations, as shapes projected either internally or in the space around them. And many synesthetes experience more than one form of the condition.

Perhaps the most rare form of synesthesia includes sensory crossovers that affect their relationship with food and drink. One of the most interesting examples of synesthesia causes  sounds, words and colors all have taste and texture. This sounds very interesting, but there is also a physiological component that causes the brain to send messages to the stomach to dissolve food that is not physically present.

Some of the most recent research on synesthesia says that there is actually an anatomical difference in the neural connections between different sensory parts of the brain. Reseach shows that the nueral connections are more mylienated in people with synesthesia.