Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Blog 7 Write about a genetic diseases that runs in your family include symptoms, treatment, a picture, genetics and reference

       A genetic disease that runs in my family is anemia which a medical condition in which the red blood cell count or hemoglobin is less than normal. It's symptoms are easy fatigue and loss of energy, unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache and pale skin. Anemia can be treated with taking iron supplement pills and getting enough iron in your food will correct most cases of iron deficiency anemia. Treatments may include dietary changes or supplements, medicines, procedures, and many others depending on your condition. My grandfather from my father'side had anemia and so did my great uncle but none of my parents have signs of it. 


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/anemia.html

           

Blog 6 Write an explanation of dominant and recessive alelles appropriate for a jr high class

    Dominant alleles are alleles that comes out to be the same outside appearance no matter what and recessive alleles are alleles that comes out to be the same as the original only when paired with an identical allele. For example when a dominant white rose pairs with a recessive pink rose the result will come out to be dominant white and not recessive pink but when a recessive pink pairs with recessive pink then the result will be recessive pink.

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

     If animals were capable of regeneration like a planarian, then more animals are able to found on the Earth and more plants can grow more with their decomposed fertilization of he soil however it can also lead to soil overuse and damage. The animals can also survive for a lot longer which also provides most of us in the world with more food and resources. With the increased food and resources comes an increase in the human population too. However then people would have to limit the amount of breeding can occur since having animals that can regenerate leads to a lesser need for more children. Animals can also be less extinct if they were able to regenerate.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Do You think a community like Gattaca is good or bad? Why? Blog #4

       I think that a community like Gattaca is bad because the fact that everything is decided on your genes and if you had a disease or disorder then you would not get the job that you wanted to pursue. Having a community like Gattaca would ruin the equal order of society that we have in our society today. A community based on genes is one with unequality and disorder due to the fact that you have a gene that would benefit to put money into. A lot of revolts can also come from this kind of community due to fact that people with the wrong types of gene would be discriminated and put to work in lowly jobs just because there would money loss if anything would have happened to that person with the gene  disorder.

Should we know our genome?? Blog#3 (Semester 2)

            I believe that we should know our genome because then we would be able to change our life before anything fatal happens to us. Knowing our genome would allow us to plan out our life carefully and enable us to choose whether or not we want to be able to change our future or not. However our genome should be confidential and only known to the ones that we want known to since it would cause  many difficulties in our lives since insurance would't be guaranteed or even given due to the fact that the gene is within you. Even though knowing our genome would cause us many difficulties in life such as in finding a job, getting insurance, and perhaps even getting married. Yet knowing that you have a harmful gene can also help you cure it allowing you to have a better future.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Reproduction and Insights On Baby Lab Blog #2 (Semester 2)

         Reproduction is the biological process by which new offspring or organisms are produced  through their parents. There are two types of reproduction which are asexual and sexual. Asexual reproduction can reproduce by itself and does not need another however a sexual needs both individuals or known as gametes. Meiosis is a way to create gametes which allows offspring are created. Life without reproduction would result in un-natural ways since life would not go on well with new people and life to support. Without reproduction, life would not sustain since no evolution and new life would take place. Sexual reproduction is kind of like a lottery since, for example, in meiosis there are different sets of chromosomes that the offspring would get in order to produce them just like a lottery draw where the possibilities are kind of endless.
      In the baby lab, I realized that the offspring's genotype and phenotype depends on the parent's genotype and phenotype. Also that sometimes a trait could be prominent in the child but not in both the parents meaning that they have received from the grandparents since traits could be recessive in the parents but passed down to be dominant in the child. The baby lab showed me that traits could be passed down from any other descendant due to the fact that they could be dominant or recessive. 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Career- Genetic Counselor Blog #1 (Semester 2)



          The genetic counseling process helps people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. Genetic counselors are health professionals with specialized graduate degrees and experience in the areas of medical genetics and counseling. They provide a critical service to individuals and families considering undergoing genetic testing by helping them identify their risks for certain disorders, investigate family health history, interpret information and determine if testing is needed.In order to become a genetic counselor you would have to first earn a bachelor degree in biology or health-care related field to enroll in a master's degree program. Course work that focuses on genetics,biochemistry, and statistics are needed in order to become a good counselor. You would also need a master's degree for positions and when you have achieved it then you would have to become certified and licensed in order to treat other patients. Usually a lot of work experience and volunteer work with helping elders or others are some training that is involved in order to understand and work well with the patients that would approach you. The average salary is estimated as $49,195 – 64,208 annually since they could also earn additional money.

References:

http://www.healthcareercenter.org/genetic-counselor-salary.html

http://education-portal.com/articles/Become_a_Genetic_Counselor_Education_and_Career_Roadmap.html

http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/53/Genetic_Counselor