Micaiah Achtymichuk’s 3^rd blog: Tuesday; March 30, 2010 3/3.

What we did today: in today’s class we…

• Did a pop quiz on the cell cycle.
• Discussed the yesterday homework questions.
• Talked about mitosis technology- cloning/ in vitro fertilization.
• Labeled microphotographs of cell division,
• Read and discussed cell aging (pages: 562- 563 and 570.)
• Drew a stick figure diagram of IVF vs. Cloning.
• Finished the day with an assignment on the cell cycle and cancer cells.
• (Onion root tip assignment can be found here: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/cell_cycle.htm)

(IVF & Cloning diagram)

Thoughts about the material:

I found the Section on the cell clock very interesting, and I attempted to find more information on this Mechanism.

Above and beyond:

On my quest to find answers to my question I was side tracked by an interesting article about the connection between circadian rhythm (a roughly 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of living entities) and cell division within organisms, so I posted it instead. The study focused on Bacteria.

"We looked at how the biological clock controls when bacterial cells divide -- in bacteria, there's a period of four hours where the cells are not allowed to divide -- and we identified the structural changes in a key protein that controls this action."

The scientists probed cell division in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus.

“They found that the timing of cell division, patterns of gene expression and compaction of the chromosome are controlled by the circadian clock. What was unknown was precisely how the circadian clock in bacteria controlled cell division. Using time-lapse microscopy, Golden and her colleagues discovered that the clock proteins KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC in bacteria control the action of a key protein called FtsZ, preventing it from going to the middle of the cell and forming a ring necessary for cell division. After four hours has elapsed, the clock proteins allow FtsZ to move toward the center of the cell and change structurally to form this ring.

"This complex of proteins is at the heart of the bacterial clock controlling cell division," said Golden. "There are two cycles, the cell cycle and the circadian cycle, that need to mesh for organisms to function. What we learned from this study is how these two cycles with different timing periods interact, and that the mechanisms that control the timing of cell division in bacteria are different than they are in eukaryotic cells."

Golden added that knowledge of the mechanisms of how organisms from bacteria to humans control the timing of their cell division and other processes has application to many human problems resulting from disorders in the circadian clock.

The Full article can be found here: (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100218125154.htm)

Sarah M. Blog #2 Wed. March 25, 2010 3/3

What we did today

• Wrote our reproductive system unit test (yay for babies)
• Will write the written response on friday

About the material

It's very interesting to learn about all of the stages that an embryo goes through in order to become a fetus.  It's also interesting to know all of the things that can go wrong, like cleft pallets and spina bifida.  It's a bit of a miracle that an egg gets fertilized by a sperm, that the egg attaches to the right spot in a woman's body and then that the baby is born without problems, because a lot of things can go wrong.  It's amazing to know that most of the development happens within the first three months and after that its just fine tuning and getting bigger.  There are many questions associated with this unit and one i was wondering what causes a woman to have a C-section.

Above and Beyond

I went to the website http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/240_1031.asp and found out that there are many reasons why a woman might require a C-section instead of a normal birth.  Some of the reasons include:

• The woman has already had a c-section in another pregnancy or other surgeries on her uterus.
• The baby is too big to pass safely through the vagina.
• The baby's buttocks or feet enter the birth canal first, instead of the head. This is called a breech position.
• The baby's shoulder enters the birth canal first, instead of the head. This is called a transverse position.
• There are problems with the placenta. Placental problems can cause dangerous bleeding during vaginal birth.
• Labor is too slow or stops.
• The baby's umbilical cord slips into the vagina, where it could be squeezed or flattened during vaginal delivery
• The woman has an infection like HIV or genital herpes.  
• The woman is having twins, triplets or more.
• The baby has problems during labor that show it is under stress, such as a slow heart rate
• The woman has a serious medical condition that requires intensive or emergency treatment (such as diabetes or high blood pressure).
• The baby has a certain type of birth defect.

Aaron. Second blog. Tues, March 23 3/3

Class Reveiw:
Block 1:
Quiz on reproductive technology

Most of the class was a type of lab in wich we checked out many different contraceptives.
We ID them found how each works and there relative effectivness. (some crazy stuff)

Block 2:
We got time to work on test tickets
we watched THE birth movie in all its glory.

Thoughts on Material:
The most effective contraceptives seemed to be the hormonal ones like the pill or the shot. There also seemed to be a lot of variables involved as to if you used them properly. For this reason I think the ones that people can't mess up on like a shot or ring are the most reliable. Since the idea has come up in class before i thot id also check out if I could find any examples or results from men on birth control.

Above and Beyond:
The stats comparing all of the technologies were the same as what we thought. The most common by far was the pill for usage. Technologies like the uterine T implant, implant, and shot were the most effective for the reasons I mentioned above. They didnt leave room for human error. Every type boasted good stats when in perfect usage, the problem seemed to always be the people using them. I got this info at www.gutmatcher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html . 

The second question's search took me to some odd places if you will and I didnt want to keep searching. The most I got was that it would have similar effects as if a female took steroids, just reversed.

Carrie Kibblewhite, Blog #2, March 24 2010, 3/3

What we did today...

- Wrote a brief quiz
- Finished the scary movie
- Got some study questions handing out

Thoughts About The Material...

I didn't know that humans have one of the most dangerous births, I thought that ours would be the safest because we are always surrounded by doctors and such. It doesn't make sense that human babies have the biggest head but the mother has a smaller pelvis, you would think that evolution would have fixed that over time. This got me wondering, just how many high risk pregnancies are there in a year?

Above and Beyond...

I followed this site https://merck.com/mmpe/sec18/ch262/ch262a.html and found these statistics,
- Perinatal mortality rate in offspring is 11.5/1000
- Deliveries: 6.7/1000 are fetal
- 4.8/1000 are neonatal (age < 28 days)
The most common causes of death are congenital malformations and preterm delivery.

Brock Groenewegen, Post #2, March 22 2010, 3/3

Review of the Class:

1. Reviewed last semesters diploma marks

2. Marked Investigation C & D questions

3. Worked on practice diploma questions

4. Discussed reproductive technologies from slide show

·      Abortions

·      In Vitro Fertilization

o       Drawbacks of both

Thoughts about the Material:

            I personally found this information quite dry and uninteresting, but I can understand the complexity of reproduction, pregnancy, birth and the various technologies involved with each. I can also understand how some things, like how the female body knows when to go into labour, when the baby is ready to come out, or what prevents the uterus from pushing the baby out before it is ready, are still an enigma to scientists today.

Additional Insight:  

            I did some follow up on the question posed above “how does the female body know when to go into labour,” and I could not find any information regarding said question, but I did find some interesting information on how to cause contractions to start. Several ways include; acupressure, herbs, and even nipple stimulation. To read more, follow http://howtoinducelabor.weebly.com/.

Meagan F-L, March 16, Blog #2, 3/3

Today in class we:

• Reviewed the worksheet we recieved yesterday
• reviewed the questions on page 529 that were assigned (4, 5, 7, 8)
• reviewed the hormonal control inquiry lab on page 527 (a-k) and took it in for marks
• we finished up the hormonal control portion of our studies
• we worked on the hormonal control flowchart that he handed to us
• we created a HOTFF chart on the hormones involved in pregnancy in the female body
• REMINDER: Female reproductive quiz tomorrow! (the 17th)

About the material:

I think that it's really interesting that only a handful of hormones are responsible for the development and care of a baby, from embryo to fetus and finally to birth.  The order of development was very interesting, especially in how the face devlops.  Who knew that before we were born we had eyes on the side of our heads?  (its just good that they aren't anymore...otherwise your mom really could say that she has eyes on the back of her head, or elsewhere).  When learning about menstruation, a question rose up that questioning why women that are living in the same area will have their menstrual cycles line up (i'm sure that the guys who are stuck in a house full of women would like to know as well...haha).  I wanted to know if there was a real explanation for why this happens.

Above and Beyond:

According to http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2429/does-menstrual-synchrony-really-exist , women's menstrual synchrony is believe to be caused by pheromones in the air that cause a hormonal cue in another woman through the sense of smell.  Some scientists believe that this is not probable because every women's cycle can last for different periods of time.  However, they can't ignore the fact that when women live together in groups there is a tendency for their cycles to synchronize.  The latest argument is that they are caused by pheromones.

I believe that I am justified in recieving a 3/3 for this assignment because I did the required work for all three specified marking categories.

Casie's #2, Thursday, March 18 3/3

Recap

• Slide Show of fetal devolopment, and some issues linked to pregnancy.

Some Thought?

• most material we have covered about pregnacncy and development is awarness based as opossed to memory of parts and functions.
• Eye opener to see how majority of development occurs the first 9 weeks of development, and is very interesting to actually be able to see real photos of the progression of fetal development
• It is an important unit because it makes us more aware of the ethical issues involving reproduction and guides us toward having our own educated opinions of what we consider the beginning of life and what is classified as right vs wrong.
• I find it is a nice change from pure memorization, and encourages more critical thinking on our part.

Addition to Thought...

While watching the slide show many questions come to mind on the many things that can go arye during pregnancy. One on which we touched on was FAS.  This is a disorder that occurs when alcohol is consumed during pregnancy. Alcohol crosses the placential barrier and can stunt fetal growth, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structure and cause other physical, mental, and behavioural issues. Surveys in the US show that up to 30% of pregnant women report having some amount of alcohol during pregnancy. This is a major issue in the western world, and is the #1 birth defect that can cause numerous forms of retardation, and yet it is preventable. The main effect of FAS is permanent central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. This creates an array of cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficiets, impulsive behaviour, and poor cause/effect reasoning. this is a major issue for our society in that so many complications in education, and integration into the work force take much more time, effort, and money that could be used in research or prevention of disorders that are not preventable. The best way to prevent this disorder from occuring at such high rates is education of the population in human reproduction, and pregnacy through courses such as ours, Bio 30. Until people realize the effect that they have on their babies is so great, there will likely be no change in the trend.  No amount of consumption has been accepted as safe.


www.cps.ca/english/statements/fn/cps96

www.wickepedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome