Blog 7: Write a genetically linked disease that runs in your family. What are its traits, its genetic causes and its treatment?

A genetically linked disease that runs in my family is high blood glucose. It is also known as "Hyperglycemia". This happens when the body has too little insulin or when the body can not use insulin properly. The traits of "Hyperglycemia" is having high levels of sugar in the urine, liquid waste filtered from the blood by the kidneys, stored in the bladder, frequent urination and increased thirst. Genetic cause of "Hyperglycemia" is response to treatment in diabetes. Treatment for "Hyperglycemia" is that you could lower your blood glucose level, check your urine for ketones( If I have ketones, I should not exercise. Exercising when ketones are present may make my blood glucose level go even higher.), to be on a special diet and to cut down on the amount of food I eat.

Reference Links:
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hyperglycemia.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14575972
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixweIXnKhwZIYi9rimEzyc4pJRjHXIVqVgGlRHBwy0Xt1v2rKZI_HmHOsy5NTCXNI55gnBDxdxBJeUHWDxPQiepyVmAEsDpTBkFguirJ2SSxxX6MdfFgV9fGhe9-wVE9mctJuXOgS43Kw/s640/12745_C__Documents+and+Settings_michele_My+Documents_My+Pictures_Complications_Converted_high-blood-sugar.jpg

Blog 6: Chapter 11 Write an explanation of dominant and recessive alleles appropriate for a jr high class.

Dominant alleles is an allele that produces the same phenotype whether its paired allele is identical or different. Recessive alleles is an allele that produces its characteristic phenotype only when its paired allele is identical. Examples of dominant traits are the color of eyes(brown), farsighted, having dark hair, having curly hair, full-head of hair, widow's peak, dimples, unattached earlobes, big lips, freckles, being double jointed and etc. Examples of recessive traits are the color of eyes(blue, green, grey and hazel), nearsighted, color blindness, blond hair, light red hair, not having any dimples, thin lips and etc. These are just some of the many traits there are in dominant alleles and recessive alleles.

Blog 5: Chapter 10 If animals were capable of regeneration like a planarian, how do you think it would affect the ecosystem?

If animals were capable of regeneration, then it would make a big difference to the ecosystem. Animals would be able to survive a lot longer(for example: Their lifespans might increase, while they go through evolution). If an alligator gets its leg cut off by a hunter, then it would grow back slowly. It may even have a chance to live a little bit longer. This would save many animals from extinction or death from a violent predator. At the same time, animals may overpopulate and resources such as food and water would be risky to get. Regeneration for animals may be seen as beneficial or useless.

Gattacca

A community like Gattacca can have both their pros and cons, but in my opinion Gattaca's community was bad rather than good. The reason why was because in their community people was often discrimantaed not by their race, but by their genes they were born with. In their society, there was little or no equality at all. So for people whom had diseases or disadvantages was look down upon and it was biase for the government to choose their jobs for them, based on their genes. Vincent(Jerome #2) was one of the lucky ones, that actually made his dream job come to life.

Question: Should we be able to know our genomes?

Yes, we should be able to know our genomes. We should be able to know our genomes, because then we would be prepared for the future. So when something bad comes up, then we would not be so surprised. For example: You have a sickle disease. If you knew that you had that disease, then you might had considered to not bear any children, since it will be a 50/50 chance that your child would get it. It is also right to know our genomes, so that you may be able to prevent it from happening. If I had the chance to know my genomes, I would like to know them.

Career Genetic Counselor

Required Education: A Master's degree in Genetic Counseling from an ABGC Accredited Program and must take the Certification Examination.
Training Required: You will need counseling skills for 90 hours and take a genetics course for 30 hours.
Average Salary: about $52,000
Common Workday of a Genetic Counselor: A genetic counselor would see a handful of patients and tell them what genetics is exactly. Then, they would also spend quite some time trying to explain the effects of genetics and to make sure that they really understand. Of course, genetic counselors should be able to teach, counsel and explain to their patients. They often work with pregnant woman, people with genetic diseases(for ex. sickle cell disease) and advising about the process of genetic testing.

References: http://medicine.osu.edu/residents/masters_programs/genetic_counseling/pages/index.aspx

http://www.abgc.net/Certification/become_a_genetic_counselor.asp

http://www.agnc.org.uk/about-us/training-to-be-a-genetic-counsellor/

http://www.michigan.gov/healthcareers/0,4590,7-221-39742-160995--,00.html

http://www.geneticcounseling4u.org/prospective_students/what_does_a_gc_do.html

Chapter 10: Writing in Science response

If I was small enough to hitch a ride on a chromosome located in the cell of a plant that goes through mitosis and cytokinesis, I would be able to see things in a whole different perspective. First, during interphase, I would be able to see the cell growing and replicating its DNA centrioles. Next, during prophase, I would see the chromatin starting to condense into chromosomes. The centrioles would also separate as the spindle forms and the nuclear envelope would begin to disappear. Following prophase is metaphase, where the chromosomes would be able to connect to a spindle fiber in the center of the cell. During anaphase, I would be able to witness the sister chromatids moving away into their own chromosomes. Later, during telophase, the chromosomes begins to lose their shape and nuclear envelope begins to form again. As my ride is coming to a near end, I arrive during cytokinesis where duplication of the cytoplasm happens and the nuclear membrane forms again.

Reproduction

The definition of reproduction is any various processes, either sexual or asexual, when an animal or plant produces one or more beings similar to itself. In reproduction, it is like the action/process of making a copy of something. In a human's body there is a total of normally 23 pairs of chromosomes(46 chromosomes in total). Females have two copies of X chromosomes, while the males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. So during reproduction, you and your partner trades these chromosomes. These chromosomes would determine if you'll be tall or short, skinny or fat, boy or girl and etc.