Genetics Articles

People have researched genetics for a long time and we have made progress, but the man that really opened up the eyes of people was Gregor Mendel. Mendel discovered genotypes by looking at pea plants. He started his research on pea plants and realized that their genetic structure worked the exact same way as ours does. I read an article on this and I found it very interesting and it really taught me a lot.
Have you ever seen a chicken at the age of six weeks that weighs 2.6kg? Well this article explains how these chickens are selectively bred to be this large. Selective breeding is when animals and plants are bred for particular traits while genetic modification is changing genetics to where they are no longer natural. There are benefits to changing these animals. One of them is that it will help them survive in different conditions. another one is that it can improve the meat quality and the stature of an animal. I agree with what they're doing with selective breeding because I believe that it can help them as well as us.

Why Ecosystem Services Matter

Do people really care about the ecosystem? This podcast explains how the scientists want to conserve ecosystem services like pollination, etc. This podcast explains how ecosystem services are being used as a profitable service. Ecosystem services are the products that nature provides. Nature isn't really getting credit for these services. People are putting prices on ecosystem services like killing bees. I completely disagree with the whole idea. I feel like we're using nature and not repaying it in any way.

The World Without Mosquitoes Article

Why do mosquitoes truly matter? This article we read was about mosquitoes and how as we're getting rid of them, we're killing other animals as well that survive off of mosquitoes. It talks about how the mosquito fish species. will die unless they have mosquitoes which we eradicate. Then, it talks about how the herds of caribou that get 300 milliliters of blood drained from their bodies by mosquitoes. Afterwards, there's a mini-article that explains the weapons we're using against the mosquitoes and the other ways we get rid of mosquitoes. I feel like we're only killing mosquitoes for the safety of humans, not to benefit the ecosystems.

Chimps' fate ignites debate

Is it right to use a chimpanzee to test cures for diseases like hepatitis C or HIV? I don't think so. But that's not what this article is about. There are aging research chimps that are being called back to duty on the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico. They are all supposed to be in the lab by the end of 2011, but this has started a debate about using chimps as test subjects for deadly diseases. I don't think it's right that we are using chimps as test subjects in the first place because these are harmless animal's lives that we are putting in danger.

Can Drinking Enough Water Kill You?

I read an article about how too much water can kill people. There was a case of this where a 28-year-old California women died when she drank six liters of water in three hours. This is called hyponaetremia which translates to "insufficient salt in the blood." When I was reading article, it was pretty scary. To know that too much water can do this to someone is really scary.

Should Convicted Felons recieve Organ Transplants?

I read an article that talked about how a convicted felon got a heart transplant before any other law abiding citizens on the list for the transplant. The article was an argument within itself as the article was referring to quotes that agree towards the felon getting the heart first, then there were the quotes that completely disagreed with the whole idea. I believe that the next citizen in line should have gotten the transplant before the felon because the citizens were following the law and needed the transplant, but the convicted felon got the transplant before them and I don't believe that it's right to do that.

About Me and What I'm Doing

Hi, I'm Zack and this is my biology blog. The purpose of this blog is to tell people about what we learned in class. You'll know everything about what we're learning and you'll be learning things on the way as well. I'll be blogging about life and stuff that we will learn. I will keep it posted and up to date.