hi, this dorothy's bio blog. which used to be her media blog. because she's lazy. so yeah, here it is. in all it's beautiful non-beautiful glory.
the source of life/grades
jeanie bo beanie
hay sarah jay
step up stephanie
denden denis(e)
deborah, no gibson
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Artificial doesn't just stop at body parts
1 Comments:
Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?
Artificial selection is a process through which humans pick and choose the genes of plants or animals to create either a new breed or to emphasize a certain trait. This may seem like something out of a science fiction movie at first but it's actually a very common thing to do. That's how many breeds of animals came to be. Some say that artificial selection is just like survive of the fittest but just with a little help from humans. Others would say that it, like genetic modification, is playing God and we should leave this up to nature.
Those who breed dogs would say that artificial selection was and is vital to keeping the breed alive. Each breed is based on the mutations of wolves that began years ago. To keep this going people had to breed these dogs with other dogs who shared the same trait. It's much like natural selection, except for traits that influence the appearance of the animal more so than help it survive. Same concept, just different circumstances. Some feel that there is nothing wrong with this. When it comes to plants many companies are using selective breeding to create super plants , which help them generate revenue by insuring that their crop lasts longer and is larger than others. Some would say that is wrong and that isn't too far from genetic modification.
Genetic modification and artificial selection do seem to share many similarities. They both can be used to make a profit which many feel is unjust. Also artificial selection in animals requires inbreeding for the most part. In order to keep those traits in the gene pool you have to breed two animals who both have those traits and that happens only if they share DNA. This causes problems for many many many generations. Many of the problems that certain breeds of dogs have is from the fact that their gene pool was and continues to be within families. Mothers and sons breed, just to keep those preferable genes alive. These are the issues to consider when you decide whether artificial selection is acceptable in today's society.
The issue of artificial selection is complicated. It seems so far removed from anything we could ever experience but it's an important part of many things. Whether it is an acceptable choice when it comes to plant growth and breeding pets is really a difficult thing to decide. There may never be a conclusion to this.
- http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeding.html#I_want_another_dog
- http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118084/Gene/Genetic_variation/artificialselection.htm
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Designer Bags, Shoes, Babies?
0 Comments:
"Designer Babies" is the term being used by the media to describe the future of modifying or selecting our children's genes for desirable characteristics (medical and cosmetic). Are things getting out of hand with our research into genetic processes? In this blog investigate social and ethical implications of this research and technologies that have been developed from it.
We manage to live in a world where appearance is everything. Designers make clothes, bags, shoes, everything imaginable. People buy them to give the appearance that they want. So much is already aimed to create an image, so why not have babies that are designer too?
 We're not talking Chanel or Prada babies, with a little stamp of Made In Paris on the back of their head but babies that are genetically engineered. Parents deciding what genes they want and what they don't. Do they want a tall or short daughter or son? Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes? The decisions are endless and why leave it up to fate when you can pick and choose how your kid will look like?
This technology isn't just for the shallow minded, it's also for medical reasons. If you carry a gene that can cause a medical condition it is possible for you to avoid this scenario. This process is used in Invitro Fertilization, where you have a few embryos that can be screened for that gene. Then when selecting which ones to implant in the uterus you can choose the ones that don't carry that gene. In that aspect it could be helpful and even productive. It will be easier for both parents and offspring.
However many people fear that this technology will be used to select cosmetic features of the babies. For now it is only be used to select a baby's gender. People fear that one day you will not just be able to pick out traits you don't want but put in traits you do want. Even ones created in a lab. The idea that one day you can give your baby genes that don't even exist in the human genome is what science fiction is made of. But is this playing God?
Some would say that yes, you should leave everything about creating life up to fate. That picking and choosing attributes of your child is just messed up. And if you start picking simple things like gender or eye colour where will it stop? Will we actually start creating super babies, babies who can fly or breath underwater? As cool as that may sound is that even ethical? And then there's those who will say that this is for the benefit of the world. By selecting certain genes we are just helping evolution. Survival of the fittest but everyone is fit. Or maybe it's for the benefit of the children, preventing them from suffering from genetically illness.
Really the whole thing is a matter of opinion. Personally I think that this technology can be used for medical purposes, and medical purposes only. Anything else would be taking it too far.
SOURCES
- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html
- http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/parenting/story.html?id=af85fffa-81df-4c47-b389-d7eefc2faccf&k=7781
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Humans Aren't Good Caretakers, Just Look at Their Rooms
2 Comments:
Many scientists consider humans as the most invasive species, as humans can greatly change an environment and impact living things that reside there. Are we being stewards of the world? Take a look at an issue in which human intervention has positively or negatively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems.
Humans have a huge effect on everything they come in contact with. Sometimes the effects they cause are not noticeable until it is too late to reverse them. But that doesn't mean humans are evil or actively seeking to destroy the world. It just means that sometimes they don't realize how powerful they really are. There are many examples of humans lacking understanding of the environment around them, causing havoc through their actions. One example could be the loggerhead sea turtle of Florida.
 Baby sea turtles have to fight for their lives in the first few moments, getting to the ocean is the first part of their journey.
The loggerhead sea turtle live and breed on Florida's coast. Which happens to be the vacation spot of many. Every year people spend their time on beaches, leaving behind litter, the common culprit of environmental destruction. For the loggerhead sea turtle, the common sandwich bag is especially dangerous. When a sandwich bag, haphazardly thrown around ends up floating in the ocean, it looks a lot like a jellyfish. And loggerhead sea turtles love jellyfish. Too bad when they try to munch on the plastic they choke and die. Another reason that human presence has not been all that helpful to the loggerhead sea turtle population is the light that is emitted from the residences near the coast. Beach front property may be fine and dandy for humans but when those sea turtles breed, their little babies hatch and head towards the light. Well, normally that light would be the moon, leading them to safety in the ocean. But in this case, heading towards the light does end in a very cliche way. They make their way towards the city and will more than likely die. But that is for those special eggs that make it to hatching. The heavy traffic on the beach means that the loggerhead sea turtles' nests are being disturbed. By foot traffic, umbrella poles being shoved into the sand etc. But that's not to say that people are evil sea turtle killing machines. They have been able to help a few animals out.
 Twin red panda cubs were 42nd and 43rd cubs to be born in that zoo.
One example would be the red panda. The red panda was and continues to be in great danger of extinction. However, due to the efforts of some dedicated zoologist all over the world, the red panda is continuing to breed in captivity. In 2007 two red panda cubs were born in the Taronga zoo in Sydney. Since the breeding program started in 1997, forty-three red panda cubs have been born there. Only 2500 are to be estimated to be living in the wild in 2007. Along with the breeding program there is extensive research and education being made available in the red panda's native home of Nepal.
So humans have to be mindful of their effect on the environment. Although the damage they can cause is immense, if they are mindful then they can reverse the negative. Hopefully they won't even have to try that and instead manage to find a harmony with the environment and be good stewards of the earth.
SOURCES
- "Man's effect on the environment." Biology Redirect. 7 Oct. 2009 .
- "Red panda twins face Aussie admirers - Science- msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- msnbc.com. 8 Oct. 2009 31565/>
- http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/IMAGES/South_Carolina/loggerheadSeaTurtle380.jpg
- http://www.taronga.org.au/imagedata/twins-redpanda-200703.jpg
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Artificial doesn't just stop at body parts
Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?
Artificial selection is a process through which humans pick and choose the genes of plants or animals to create either a new breed or to emphasize a certain trait. This may seem like something out of a science fiction movie at first but it's actually a very common thing to do. That's how many breeds of animals came to be. Some say that artificial selection is just like survive of the fittest but just with a little help from humans. Others would say that it, like genetic modification, is playing God and we should leave this up to nature.
Those who breed dogs would say that artificial selection was and is vital to keeping the breed alive. Each breed is based on the mutations of wolves that began years ago. To keep this going people had to breed these dogs with other dogs who shared the same trait. It's much like natural selection, except for traits that influence the appearance of the animal more so than help it survive. Same concept, just different circumstances. Some feel that there is nothing wrong with this. When it comes to plants many companies are using selective breeding to create super plants , which help them generate revenue by insuring that their crop lasts longer and is larger than others. Some would say that is wrong and that isn't too far from genetic modification.
Genetic modification and artificial selection do seem to share many similarities. They both can be used to make a profit which many feel is unjust. Also artificial selection in animals requires inbreeding for the most part. In order to keep those traits in the gene pool you have to breed two animals who both have those traits and that happens only if they share DNA. This causes problems for many many many generations. Many of the problems that certain breeds of dogs have is from the fact that their gene pool was and continues to be within families. Mothers and sons breed, just to keep those preferable genes alive. These are the issues to consider when you decide whether artificial selection is acceptable in today's society.
The issue of artificial selection is complicated. It seems so far removed from anything we could ever experience but it's an important part of many things. Whether it is an acceptable choice when it comes to plant growth and breeding pets is really a difficult thing to decide. There may never be a conclusion to this.
- http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeding.html#I_want_another_dog
- http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118084/Gene/Genetic_variation/artificialselection.htm
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1 Comments:
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Designer Bags, Shoes, Babies?
"Designer Babies" is the term being used by the media to describe the future of modifying or selecting our children's genes for desirable characteristics (medical and cosmetic). Are things getting out of hand with our research into genetic processes? In this blog investigate social and ethical implications of this research and technologies that have been developed from it.
We manage to live in a world where appearance is everything. Designers make clothes, bags, shoes, everything imaginable. People buy them to give the appearance that they want. So much is already aimed to create an image, so why not have babies that are designer too?
We're not talking Chanel or Prada babies, with a little stamp of Made In Paris on the back of their head but babies that are genetically engineered. Parents deciding what genes they want and what they don't. Do they want a tall or short daughter or son? Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes? The decisions are endless and why leave it up to fate when you can pick and choose how your kid will look like?
This technology isn't just for the shallow minded, it's also for medical reasons. If you carry a gene that can cause a medical condition it is possible for you to avoid this scenario. This process is used in Invitro Fertilization, where you have a few embryos that can be screened for that gene. Then when selecting which ones to implant in the uterus you can choose the ones that don't carry that gene. In that aspect it could be helpful and even productive. It will be easier for both parents and offspring.
However many people fear that this technology will be used to select cosmetic features of the babies. For now it is only be used to select a baby's gender. People fear that one day you will not just be able to pick out traits you don't want but put in traits you do want. Even ones created in a lab. The idea that one day you can give your baby genes that don't even exist in the human genome is what science fiction is made of. But is this playing God?
Some would say that yes, you should leave everything about creating life up to fate. That picking and choosing attributes of your child is just messed up. And if you start picking simple things like gender or eye colour where will it stop? Will we actually start creating super babies, babies who can fly or breath underwater? As cool as that may sound is that even ethical? And then there's those who will say that this is for the benefit of the world. By selecting certain genes we are just helping evolution. Survival of the fittest but everyone is fit. Or maybe it's for the benefit of the children, preventing them from suffering from genetically illness.
Really the whole thing is a matter of opinion. Personally I think that this technology can be used for medical purposes, and medical purposes only. Anything else would be taking it too far.
SOURCES
- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html
- http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/parenting/story.html?id=af85fffa-81df-4c47-b389-d7eefc2faccf&k=7781
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0 Comments:
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Humans Aren't Good Caretakers, Just Look at Their Rooms
Many scientists consider humans as the most invasive species, as humans can greatly change an environment and impact living things that reside there. Are we being stewards of the world? Take a look at an issue in which human intervention has positively or negatively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems.
Humans have a huge effect on everything they come in contact with. Sometimes the effects they cause are not noticeable until it is too late to reverse them. But that doesn't mean humans are evil or actively seeking to destroy the world. It just means that sometimes they don't realize how powerful they really are. There are many examples of humans lacking understanding of the environment around them, causing havoc through their actions. One example could be the loggerhead sea turtle of Florida.
Baby sea turtles have to fight for their lives in the first few moments, getting to the ocean is the first part of their journey.
The loggerhead sea turtle live and breed on Florida's coast. Which happens to be the vacation spot of many. Every year people spend their time on beaches, leaving behind litter, the common culprit of environmental destruction. For the loggerhead sea turtle, the common sandwich bag is especially dangerous. When a sandwich bag, haphazardly thrown around ends up floating in the ocean, it looks a lot like a jellyfish. And loggerhead sea turtles love jellyfish. Too bad when they try to munch on the plastic they choke and die. Another reason that human presence has not been all that helpful to the loggerhead sea turtle population is the light that is emitted from the residences near the coast. Beach front property may be fine and dandy for humans but when those sea turtles breed, their little babies hatch and head towards the light. Well, normally that light would be the moon, leading them to safety in the ocean. But in this case, heading towards the light does end in a very cliche way. They make their way towards the city and will more than likely die. But that is for those special eggs that make it to hatching. The heavy traffic on the beach means that the loggerhead sea turtles' nests are being disturbed. By foot traffic, umbrella poles being shoved into the sand etc. But that's not to say that people are evil sea turtle killing machines. They have been able to help a few animals out.
Twin red panda cubs were 42nd and 43rd cubs to be born in that zoo.
One example would be the red panda. The red panda was and continues to be in great danger of extinction. However, due to the efforts of some dedicated zoologist all over the world, the red panda is continuing to breed in captivity. In 2007 two red panda cubs were born in the Taronga zoo in Sydney. Since the breeding program started in 1997, forty-three red panda cubs have been born there. Only 2500 are to be estimated to be living in the wild in 2007. Along with the breeding program there is extensive research and education being made available in the red panda's native home of Nepal.
So humans have to be mindful of their effect on the environment. Although the damage they can cause is immense, if they are mindful then they can reverse the negative. Hopefully they won't even have to try that and instead manage to find a harmony with the environment and be good stewards of the earth.
SOURCES
- "Man's effect on the environment." Biology Redirect. 7 Oct. 2009 .
- "Red panda twins face Aussie admirers - Science- msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- msnbc.com. 8 Oct. 2009 31565/>
- http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/IMAGES/South_Carolina/loggerheadSeaTurtle380.jpg
- http://www.taronga.org.au/imagedata/twins-redpanda-200703.jpg
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2 Comments:
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Hey Dorothy!
Sweet blog, it's not very long. I noticed that we both mentioned about the similarity between genetic modification and artificial selection. Artificial selection helps us in ways other than just for the breeding of dogs and animals. If you did not know, artificial selection helps with the processing of a variety of the foods that we consume. The varieties in vegetable such as the different kinds of grapes and so on. Artificial selection also enables the modified plant or animal to be resistant to certain disease, and gives them the ability to adapt to environemnts which allows them to live longer than those that weren't artificially selected. In all I would say that artifical selection and selective breeding is benefitial depending on its usage.