Here we go class...!

Genetic mutations. Have you herd of that? I haven't either..
NOO im kidding. Take a look at this video so you can get a clear perspective on what im talking about...
http://sciencestage.com/v/1299/dna-mutation.html

Genetic mutations are changes in the nucleotide sequence of the genetic material which are usually caused by copying errors during replication that lead to base substitution, insertion, or deletion of one or more base pairs. Genetic mutations may be triggered by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or can occur deliberately under cellular control during processes such as hypermutation. Did you know drug resistance can be part of a genetic mutation?

Below you will see the different types of mutations...

Substitution: A type of point mutation where a single nucleotide is substituted with a different nucleotide that may result in an altered sequence of amino acid during translation.

Insertion: A type of mutation resulting from the adding of extra nucleotides in a DNA sequence or chromosome.

Deletion: Pretty much the same thing except its deleting nucleotides causing the DNA sequence to shift.

An example for mutations please meet the Elephant Man...

       When he was two years old, his mother just started to notice the changes to his body. Joseph Merrick started forming darker skin spots, lighter skin spots that began to look bumpy and rough. Those bumps began to grow and spread throughout his body [chest, neck, and the back of his head]. While he was growing up his mom continued worrying, the other boys started making fun of him, and he kept looking stranger. His arm was at the point where it was un-useful and the right side of his head was about 4 times the size it should have been. Over the next years he tried to work in a factory, but the workers abused him and he ended up being in a freak show [circus]. Joseph Merrick was just like any other human being, but with many more flaws in life. Like everyone else, he wanted to be ordinary. He also wished he could be like everyone else and lay down to sleep, but due to his over sized head he had to sleep sitting up. One morning in 1890 he was found lying down dead. The weight of his head had crushed his windpipe and he suffocated. He was then but 28 years old.


         So as you can see genetic mutations aren't good and we should be thankful enough that we are who we are. Thank you for your time and a will be back soon.

Heredity

 Okay so last week I talked about twins, I hope you enjoyed that, by the way. Today I will be talking to you about Heredity. Heredity's the process which parents pass charateristics/traits on to their children. For example: you and your parents probably have come same characteristics. This isn't anything weird, it's natural. Even though I know some you brothers and sisters don't claim eachother, your looks still give it away [Cough, Fatima] (: You and your family might share the same hair type/color, eye color, skin tone; these are things you might inherate. All characteristics that you share with your family isn't always good though. Maybe your mother or father is [not in a mean way] fat. You might end up the same way like you see in the picture on the right. Or maybe heyy, you might get lucky and turn out the total opposite. But same goes for skinny families, you'll probably be skinny.

         In order to inherate theres traits you need to have genes, whch are segements f DNA that carry instructions to our offsprings and then thier offsprngs and so on.. But how do we know all this information about characteristics? Well we found out from the "Father of Genetics", real name Gregor Mandel. He wasn't a scientist, but he was the first person to keep track of how traits pass down one generation to another.

        Gregor Mandel did all his experiments with pea plants which he shared with others in 1865. He first noticed that some traits from the parent plant were passed down to some of its many offspring. Some of the plants were tall some were short, he kept track of all of this information by setting up a chart like this..

Although he found out about the passing of traits to thier offsprings, he didn't know much about DNA or chromosomes, so he couldn't explain how these traits were passed down. Alot of his work was ignored, but still Mendel's work became the basis for the fields of genetics [the study of heredity].

OMG I Want A Twin!

So today will be my first blog post at my new school, that I absolutley love! I will be talking about twins, but not just twins and how they are made or thier process of birth, but the different types of twins. Im so excited! There are indentical twins, fraternal twins, and also conjoined twins, which is something I find quite disterbing. A while ago I used to wonder, how does one person have a duplicate of themselfs? I finally found out a while later from my mom that they're called twins, but that was a while ago, she probably told me way more discriptive imformation then just saying twins. Once I think about it.. yeah she definantly told me way more information then that! Gosh I love my mom. Anyways, I'm getting off topic, let me move on to the leason..

[COUGH, COUGH, COUGH]

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I give you IDENTICAL TWINS"!!! 

                                                            [the Olsen Twins]

    The picture you see above are two well known celebraties, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. They are also [as you can see] identical twins [correct term monozygotic]. Identical twins are developted when the fertilized egg splits. They then turn into individual embryos. Since the embryos formed from one single egg/sperm combination, each embryo share the same genetic orgins. In other words, the have the same DNA. Oh, wow doesn't this just make you want to be re-born and identical to yourself? I don't know about you, but im fasinated.

Have you ever wondered maybe Heyy, I want a twin? Well maybe you do. Sometimes two eggs are fertilized by two seperate sperm. Usually women only realese one egg in an ovulation cycle but ocationally some women realese two eggs. This whole process is the making of fraternal twins [also known as Dizygotic]. 

          The two men you see above are what we call fraternal twins. They share some similar characteristics and have some different. For example: the brothers you see here have the same skin tone, and hair, plus they both look good in collared shirts. But if you look at them they don't look identical like the Olsen Twins. If you observe the one on the our left has a smaller chin, while the one on our right has a bigger chin. Also [now im just being very observent] but the one on the left has a bigger forhead. No affence toward that guy I'm just stating the obvious. This is how you determine weather or not they are identical or similar. But remember they'll always be the same age. But not exactly, maybe by a minute or two. Oh the race is one! I was just thinking, what if i had a unknown or longlost sister or brother that's my twin? Which reminds me. Your fraternal twin doesn't nesseccaraly have to be the exact same gender, you could be a girl and your twin could be a boy [and the other way around]. Ummmmm, I'm starting to not want a twin anymore.

        And last but not least conjoined twins.

This is when you are born with either and extra body part or even a head. This doesn't happen very often, 1 once every 200,000 live births. They develop from the same fertilized egg and genetically share the same characteristics. Ewwwwieee, I can't do this no more! BYEEEE (: I'll be back soon

And if you want to be really amazed. Below you will find a video of two amazing twin Dancers..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XLGYxeL1iQ