Biology, Tuesday, Period 2

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

An arrangement of muffins and juice sat on a table near the door, and a rather wobbly drawing of two dragons -- one with wings but not horns, and one with horns but not wings -- decorated the whiteboard. Elliot waited for most students to be in their seats before beginning

"Hey, people. Today we're going to talk about genetics, which is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. Heredity and variations form the basis of genetics. Humans applied knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools for the investigation of the function of a particular gene -- like, the, analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules.

Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing the amino-acid sequences in proteins, which in turn play a large role in determining the final phenotype, or physical appearance, of the organism. In diploid organisms, a dominant allele on one chromosome will mask the expression of a recessive gene on the other.

Genetics determines much (but not all) of the appearance and behavior of organisms, though environmental factors are also important. That gets into nature vs. nurture, which is a little beyond today's class.

"Let me show you how this works." Elliot tapped on the board. "Now, the standard way to represent a dominant gene is with a capital letter. Everyone gets two genes for every trait -- one from mom and one from dad. If we assume wings and horns are both dominant and both parents have matching alleles, or genes, then the dragon mom here would be WWhh, while dad is wwHH.

But it's not always that neat. Mom could also be Wwhh, and dad could be wwHh, and the one dominant gene overrules the recessive gene -- so if the baby came out WwHh, it would have both wings and horns, even though neither of its parents have both. And similarly, if the kid was wwhh, it'd have neither. This is why sometimes you get siblings that look nothing alike."

She passed out the lab. "You'll be working in three groups, each with different dragon parents. Work together to set up a table to figure out how likely it is the dragon babies would have wings or horns. I'll be around if you need help. Oh, and quiz next week, so studying would not be the worst idea you could have."

Comments

Sign in, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

...

Re: Sign in, Bio, 9/26

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow Rosenberg

Re: Sign in, Bio, 9/26

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Jamie Madrox

Re: Sign in, Bio, 9/26

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

Zack Addy

General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

Listen to the lecture, pass notes or bug Dr. Reid.

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Dr. Reid? Why are we doing the lab on dragons? Can't we do one on Badgers?" Jamie asked hopefully.

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Dragons are a very large species of badger," Elliot said. "Only with no fur and a completely different physical appearance. Really."

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Jamie gave Dr. Reid a weird look.

"Dr. Reid? You didn't happen to stop off at Empire records to pick up some brownies recently, have you?"

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Dr. Reid?" Parker's a little worried about this question, but it's important enough to ask. "I know all that uber-race stuff is crap, but why *isn't* intelligence just a matter of dominant and recessive genes? Shouldn't smart people have smart kids? Why doesn't that happen?"

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Because there isn't a smart gene," Elliot shrugged. "Intelligence is fantastically complicated, and teasing out a genetic element from environmental and social factors is way more than science can do so far. Which isn't to say there isn't a genetic element, but it's a little more coomplicated than blue eyes versus brown eyes or wings or no wings."

"Did that answer your question?"

Re: General Class Stuff, Bio, 9/26

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Somewhat." Parker's quiet a second, then says, "So it's maybe more a whole series of genes, plus the environmental effects, plus how people are socialized." Nodding thoughtfully, she muttered, "That would account for it." She smiled a little more brightly and said, "Thanks, Dr. Reid."

Group I, Bio 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

Members: Zack, Jamie, Peter Parker, Aeryn

Dragons: Mom is wwHH, Dad is WwHH.

Re: Group I, Bio 9/26

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Jamie starts to modify the grid because he feels that at least one of the dragons should have the x-factor gene that makes them a mutant.

Re: Group I, Bio 9/26

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

Zack tilted his head as he watched Jamie. "What are you doing?"

Re: Group I, Bio 9/26

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Modifying the lab. It's missing vital genetic characteristics that could make the dragon a mutant dragon," Jamie explained.

Re: Group I, Bio 9/26

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter nodded at the change. "X-gene. Good call."

Group 2, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

Members: Teddy, Briar, Willow, Greg

Dragons: Mom is WwHh, dad is wwhh

Re: Group 2, Bio, 9/26

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow? Loved doing this FAR too much. She was bouncing in her seat and everything.

Re: Group 2, Bio, 9/26

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy took a seat next to the incredible bouncing girl. He wasn't about to comment on it because maybe she had a caffiene problem, and bringing it up would be rude.

"Hey," He said with a small waved.

Re: Group 2, Bio, 9/26

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Hi," she said back. "I'm Willow."

Group 3, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

Members: Isabel, Parker, Elizabeth

Dragons: Mom is WWhh, dad is WWHH.

Re: Group 3, Bio, 9/26

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel started to mentally compose an email to Liz. Dear Liz, Forget the funky alien DNA. How'd you like to figure out dragon genetics?

Re: Group 3, Bio, 9/26

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Right. Soooo... It's really just odds. Vegas odds, but still." Parker cocked an eyebrow. "Although, the question comes up, how sure are we that the dad is the dad?"

No, she doesn't have issues about that. Why do you ask?

Re: Group 3, Bio, 9/26

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"As opposed to the dragon equivalent of the milkman?" Isabel chuckled.

OOC, Bio, 9/26

[blonde-doctor.livejournal.com]

All done!