GENOME: Chromosome 10: Stress

In this chapter, ridley talks about how the body, the brain, and the genome are locked together and work together in a way. In Chromosome 10, there is a gene called CYP17 that is supposedly responsible for the synthesis of an enzyme. This enzyme is supposed to help the body change cholesterol (many Americans suffer from this!!) to cortisol,oestradiol, and testosterone. cortisol is released when there is a signal of stres in the brain and sets off a chain that switches the genes on and off. Genes are supposed to regulate the expression of other genes, as Ridley states. Ridley then proceeds to set up a parallel between the human body and the world, saying that the world also has no control center but has many systems that are connected in one way or another.

GENOME: Chromosome 7: Instinct

GENOME 7: Instinct In this chapter, Ridley talks about how genetic determinism is a lot more probable now. Ridley discusses how vocabulary is not an innate trait in newborns/humans, but grammar may be. He explains that this theory may be true because children, young toddlers, are able to speak correctly with the right usage of grammar. Chromosome 7 contains a gene that is linked to a disorder, a language disorder called Specific Language Impairment. The inheritance rate has almost reached 100%. With studies, SLI is connected to the inability to learn grammar correctly. The gene in chromosome 7 as stated in the book seems to have a cause in the lesion in the brain.

LAST BLOG: REFLECTION

As a whole, I felt that this class was certainly an experience. I had to learn to balance my time with other AP classes with AP Biology. With the first semester, we had a lot of simulations to do online and it was hard to understand at times. Notebooks have always been my favorite because it is really an accumulation of all the work, notes, worksheets, all of the knowledge we gained from the class as a whole. Ms. Malonek made class really fun for us, especially with little games, presentations, etc. Although the class is pure HARD WORK, I feel that this hard work is worth it in the end. I learned about imperfect/perfects, angiosperms, gymnosperms, alternation of generations, DNA, we read the book GENOME. Overall, the knowledge I gained from this class will stay with me for a life time.