Hardy Weinberg!

The Hardy Weinberg equation is the mathematical equation used to calculate the genetic variation of a population at equilibrium. The equation starts off with p^2 + 2pq + q^2. p + q also equals 1. P squared represents the frequency of the homozygous dominant allele, Two p q represents the frequency of the heterozygous allele, and q squared represents the frequency of the homozygous recessive allele. The two men who came up with this were Godfrey Hardy and Wilhelm Weinberg. They also stated that evolution in a population would not occur if the following happen: mutation does not occur, natural selection does not occur, the population is infinitely large, all members of the population breed, all mating is totally random, everyone produces the same number of offspring, and there is no migration in or out of the population. Going back to the equation, here is an example of a problem:

1. You have sampled a population in which you know that the percentage of the homozygous recessive genotype (aa) is 36%. Using that 36%, calculate the following:
1. The frequency of the "aa" genotype.
2. The frequency of the "a" allele.
3. The frequency of the "A" allele.
4. The frequencies of the genotypes "AA" and "Aa."

The frequency of the aa is already mentioned in the problem, 36%. To find B, firs square root .36. The answer is .6. So the frequency is 60%. For C, since q+p=1, and q=.6 then p=.4. So 40%. For D, .4 squared is .16 so the frequency of the AA is 16% and 2pq is equal to 2 times .4 times .6 so .48 or 48%.

Here is a good video about this:

Hardy Weinberg Video

Immune System Quiz

The Questions:

1. The innate immune system is also known as the non-specific immune system. The cells of the non-specific system recognize and respond to the pathogens in a generic way, but do not have long-lasting immunity to the host. The non-specific system recruits immune cells to the site of the infection, by the production of chemical factors, such as specialized chemical mediators called cytokines. It activates the complement cascade which identifies bacteria, activates cells, and promotes the clearance of dead cells or antibody complexes. It uses the process of antigen presentation to activate the adaptive immune system. It uses white blood cells to identify and remove foreign substances. It also acts as a chemical and physical barrier to infectious diseases. Innate immunity also includes external barriers of the body, which help prevent diseases from coming into the body.

2. There are two types lymphocytes (white blood cells): B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes. Lymphocytes start out in the bone marrow. If they stay in the bone marrow and mature there, they are B cells. If they leave for the thymus gland, they mature into T cells. Many kinds of cells work together and respond to foreign substances that invade the body (antigens.) These specific cells trigger B cells to produce antibodies, which are specialized proteins that attach onto specific antigens. Some T cells create chemicals for memory cells. This helps the body in defense against the same disease in the future. Other T cells help destroy antigens.

3. B and T cells produce memory cells. These specific cells hold information about previous threats and diseases to the body. All this gives the system a memory, meaning that the system will have a quicker and more powerful response to the disease in the future. This also helps our bodies to develop immunities, meaning that the system knows what the antigens already is and can stop new infections.

4. Body cells carry distinctive molecules that help identify it as itself. An antigen shows that it is foreign by characteristic shapes (or receptors) called epitopes, which stick out from the surface. Because the body does not recognize these receptors, the immune system will attack it. Other cells with the same "self"markers, are not affected by the immune system.

Bibliography for LH Hormone Podcast

Websites used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luteinizing_hormone#Structure
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/follicle-stimulating-hormone-and-luteinizing-hormone-intramuscular-route-subcutaneous-route/description/drg-20062932
http://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/luteinising_hormone.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luteinizing_hormone/choriogonadotropin_receptor
http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/hypopit/lhfsh.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_feedback

LH Hormone Podcast

LH Hormone Podcast

Transcript for LH Hormone Podcast

          Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by gonadotrophic cells in the anterior pituitary gland. In females, if there is a rise in levels of the LH hormone, ovulation will be triggered and corpus luteum is developed. It also helps increase the amount of estrogen produced by follicle cells. LH sometimes goes together with the hormone FSH. A chemical pathway is a series of interconnected reactions that share common mechanisms, and each reaction is dependent on a specific precursor, such as, a chemical, an enzyme, or the transfer of energy. LH is a heterodimer glycoprotein, meaning that each monomeric unit is a glycoprotein molecule, and one alpha and one beta subunit make a full functioning protein. The structure of LH is similar to the structure of other glycoprotein hormones, such as, Follicle-stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and human chorionic gonadotropin. Different compositions of the oligosaccharides in LH affect the bioactivity and speed of degradation of the hormone. LH is water soluble, meaning that it does not readily pass through the lipid-rich plasma membrane that surrounds the target cell. It does, however, combine with receptors on the surface of the target cell. The receptors are glycoprotein complexes. A cellular receptor that interacts with LH is the luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor, or LHCGR. It is a trans-membrane receptor mostly found in the ovary and testis. The principal regulator of LH secretion is gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH. It is synthesized and secreted from hypothalamic neurons, and bind to receptors on gonadotrophs. It is necessary for it to be active during reproduction for proper hormonal functioning.  LH runs off of a negative feedback loop, meaning that the result of the process influences the operation of the process in a way that reduces changes.

Different amounts of glucose affect on Cell Respiration (yeast lab)

Different amounts of glucose affect on Cell Respiration

Abstract:

In this lab, we tested to see what would happen with different substances with different amounts of glucose and their affect on cell respiration. In the control, for the carbohydrate, we used sugar. The different variables we used were honey, flour, and potato starch. We suspected that since honey and sugar have more glucose, the amount of carbon dioxide produced would be higher.

Introduction:

Cell respiration is a process that produces ATP (energy.) In cell respiration, the cells use oxygen to break down glucose, or sugar, and create ATP. Without oxygen, cell respiration cannot occur. There are three main steps to cell respiration: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. Cell respiration takes place in the mitochondria. In glycolysis, the 6-carbon sugar is broken down into 2 molecules of a 3-carbon molecule called pyruvate. In this step, 2 ATP molecules and 2 NADH molecules are gained. Then the pyruvate is transported into the mitochondria and loses carbon dioxide to form acetyl-CoA. In the Krebs cycle, acetyl-CoA is oxidized to carbon dioxide and a chemical energy is released and captured in the forms of NADH, FADH2, and ATP. Then oxidative phosphorylation and chemiosmosis is the next step. The electron transport chain in the mitochondria allows the release of chemical energy stored in reduced NAD+ and reduced FAD. Then the energy released is captured in the form of ATP. The electron transport chain is made up of proteins and other molecules in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Electron carriers donate electrons to the electron transport chain, which powers ATP synthesis from oxidative phosphorylation. Since yeast is a fungus, it also under-goes cell respiration. In our yeast lab, we have a control made up of 1g of carbohydrates (sugar), 35 mL of warm water, 1g of salt, and 1g of yeast. If we change the different carbohydrates and make those our variables, how will it affect the cell respiration of the yeast? Does the amount of glucose in them affect cell respiration? In our lab we used three variables instead of sugar. We used honey, flour, and potato starch. I hypothesize that the control and the honey will produce more carbon dioxide than the flour and the potato starch because they have more glucose.

 Materials:

-Test tubes attached to syringes

- Beakers

-Sugar

-Honey

-Flour

-Potato starch

- Water

- Salt

- Yeast

- Weighing scale

Procedure:

To keep the experiment accurate, we must make the control, the one with the honey, the one with the flour, and the one with the potato starch at the same time. To make the control you need 1g of sugar, 35mL of warm water, 1g of salt, and 1g of yeast. Once you have all the ingredients you have to put them into the test tube and shake. Use the same materials for the others except change the carbohydrate. So instead of 1g of sugar, use 1g of honey, 1g of flour, and 1g of potato starch. Once the substances are in the test tubes, push the syringe down to see the starting point of the carbon dioxide. After 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 8 minutes, 9 minutes, and 10 minutes push the syringe and see the new level of carbon dioxide.

Results:

As expected the control and the honey produced the most carbon dioxide. The baseline for the control is 2 mL, 5 minutes was 2 mL, 7 minutes was 3 mL, 8 minutes was 5.3 mL, 9 minutes was 7 mL, and 10 minutes was 8 mL. The baseline for the honey was 1.9 ml, 5 minutes was 3 ml, 7 minutes was 4.5 ml, 8 minutes was 5.3 ml, 9 minutes was 6.2 ml, and 10 minutes was 7.6 ml. The baseline for the flour was 2 ml, 5 minutes was 2 ml, 7 minutes was 2 ml, 8 minutes was 2 ml, 9 minutes was 2 ml, and 10 minutes was 2 ml. the baseline for potato starch was 1.6 ml, 5 minutes was 2 ml, and since the cap of the test tube was not properly sealed, we could not get any more data.

Conclusion:

Sugar and honey are both disaccharides and both contain a lot of glucose, and therefore they both produced a lot of carbon dioxide due to cell respiration. Flour is a starch and a polysaccharide so it has less glucose than the honey and the sugar. If we had timed the flour longer, then we would see a gradual rise in the level of carbon dioxide. Potato starch is also a polysaccharide and contains less glucose, and if there were no errors, and if we had more time, we would see a gradual rise in the level of carbon dioxide as well.      

Forensics Quiz

This is how I think the man died:
A twenty-year old man was running away from his psycho girlfriend who also happens to be a secret agent, so she has the necessary skills to take him down. She caught up to him on Thompson Creek Trail and shot him in the chest. He is later found supine and dead on the trail. Since the entrance wound was on the left lateral side near the third rib, I think that the rib fractured and punctured the lung. The bullet traveled to the umbilical region where it exited. While examining the body we found that the eighth rib on the right side of the rib cage was fractured as well. The rib was fractured because the bullet went through it and the rib punctured the liver. The bullet also passed through the heart on its way to the liver. I believe that the man died due to internal bleeding caused by the punctured lung, heart, and liver. Another less likely way that he died is since the lung was punctured, blood and liquids filled the lung. Also oxygen could not get to the brain, causing the brain to shut off. Another less likely way that he died is from external bleeding from the gunshot wounds.