Ask A Geneticist

To some extent, reading anything science-y makes my head hurt-usually because trying to visualize it and taking in new information at the same time is the ultimate brain multi-tasking for me (and I have to do that a lot!)

Now, to the homework! What was the assignment, exactly?

YOUR TASK: Check out the links below. On your blog, write about the most interesting genetics facts you discover. This is an open-ended response. Write about something you learned.

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=69

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=184

That answers my first question. Ack! Back to the actual links. Am I allowed to mix all the information up or do I have to say what I got from which question? Apparently, one human chromosome is really two chimp chromosomes combined, and 98.8% of our DNA are the same (no wonder why I itch so much- although that could just be really dry skin). What was shocking was that 3% of the genome codes for proteins and 97% codes for... other stuff. Actually, it wasn't really shocking but interesting to know that the actual makeup of proteins only amount for a small portion of our DNA. However, it does make sense: the ingredients list of a recipe is only a small part of making the food. I could take pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese and make regular old pasta with tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top, or I could make baked lasagna- two different foods, same basic ingredients. I don't get this part, though: When the human genome project got underway years ago, scientists thought that the big differences between species would be in their genes. It now looks like the DNA outside of the genes may have a bigger role, at least in closely related species like humans and chimps. What, then, are genes exactly? How to make the proteins that make up a trait? But aren't the traits of humans- intelligence, namely,- that differ from other species traits as well? So confusing... Although they do say that genes are the instructions for making proteins, so... speaking of which, what's a genome? My basic understanding is that it's all of the genes, or rather DNA before I get a headache trying to tell the difference, in an organism, not counting the gazillion copies in every cell. (for multi-cellular organisms, that is). Is it okay if our homework assignment is mostly questions? Next link! I understand why we have more than one long chromosome if I don't think too hard, but trying to figure out what the interesting facts are without thinking is proving to be quite a challenge... Chromosomes can be broken and fused together, which is how one of our chromosomes is really two chimp chromosomes (How?). Also, the number of chromosomes doesn't have anything to do with the complexity of the organism. For instance, humans have 46 chromosomes and ferns have a whopping 1,260! (although I have to question whether it's really 1,260 or just rounded for convenience.) The next part, What determines what genes are on which chromosomes, is question land for me! How can DNA be virus-like? Actually, I should say the fact first. The article said that genes started getting shuffled around on the chromosome because virus-like DNA started picking up genes and shuffling them. So, how can DNA be virus-like? Or is it a virus that got ahold of our DNA? I honestly need to stop thinking about that. Also, the article says that gene duplication helps reorder our DNA, gene duplication being that a section of our DNA gets copied and becomes part of the genome, staying close to the parent gene. However, why would the gene copy itself to be part of the genome? Isn't two alleles (Am I doing this right? I wish a geneticist could explain this to us) for one gene good enough? And would gene duplication mean that we would have three alleles for one gene? Or is gene duplication something that occurs in DNA replication? And if so, then why does it say that it stays near the parent gene? And how would the gene evolve a new function- and if it does, wouldn't it be some weird function rather than a useful one? Well, that's my question-laden, confused, and otherwise not very "interesting genetics facts" full open-ended answer. (Well, it's not quite an answer but more like a discussion full of questions)

Pippin's Question Box

What causes people to "blank out"? (best)

Got Science?

Okay, so I've been really busy lately, so I'll discuss all the question boxes that I didn't do already in one post.

Mushrooms are part of the vegetable food group, so they are veggies. (Even though they aren't plants, they're fungi). Their nutrition content is more similar to vegetables than anything else, so they fall in the vegetable food group- which leads to another question: What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? I know fruits have seeds, but is that the only difference? What about the nutrition content? Do fruits have more vitamin C or other nutrients?

Glutens are special proteins that are found in rye, wheat, and barley. Not all grains, though, have glutens, like corn, oats and soybeans. Glutens have properties that help create bread, like keeping in the gases while it bakes, hardening to keep the bread's shape, and making the bread chewy. The reason why certain products have "gluten free" is because some people have a disease that makes them unable to digest glutens, so they can't eat it. Here's my link: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-gluten.htm.

As for meiosis, there's a whole bunch of stuff I'm trying to read, so kindly give me a few minutes... By the way, red blood cells do not have DNA- I looked it up, and they have no nucleus. Okay, done reading the website I was reading- and I'm confused! The only thing that I can gather is, well, er... there's a lot of confusing vocabulary. Also, Boveri and Sutton were responsible for the chromosome theory of inheritance- the textbook seems to have left that out. This was the website I was reading: http://croptechnology.unl.edu/viewLesson.cgi?LessonID=979149292. Also, going on http://www.scilinks.org/ will give you more links, look on page 94 of the textbook for the code. Speaking of which, there are quite a few contests on the website as well, although only one seems doable (because of the deadline/other things). That makes me sad since they seem fun...

Well, that's all for now!

Science Book, Take A Look: Time Travel

Anyone curious to know more about time travel? *crickets chirping* Anyway, I'll pretend someone's interested. The book in question is Paul Davies' How To Build A Time Machine.

The best trait of this book I'd say is its short length and articulate English language. It explains things pretty well, although it is a quick moving book. It also discusses other weird stuff in physics like exotic matter (e.g. negative energy, imaginary matter, etc.), black holes, and singularities. The primary route of time travel that this book focuses on is a wormhole, so if you're interested specifically in black holes or wormholes this is a must-read. Otherwise, for those of you who like weird but true stuff or need to look smart, this is a good book. However, I want to point out something that the book doesn't really emphasize a lot- this is all based on theory, we still don't know enough to be sure that it's possible, and even if creating a wormhole to travel in time is possible, it's not going to happen for a looooonnnnng time- as in, don't count on your great-great-great-grandchildren to be time traveling.

Another book that kokopelli recommends that is scientific in a sense is Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. This was written by a well established writer who got a little curious about how scientists discover stuff, so he went on a "quest" to learn as much as he could- and wrote a book about it, of course. It's a funny book with lots of really weird (and sometimes sad) tales of scientists. The downsides to this book is that it's really long and that the science gets... pushed to the side at times and is a little unclear. Still, I highly recommend reading at least a chapter or two of this book (you don't have to finish- I didn't either).

Pippin's Question Box

Reminder: Post a link to your blog or your answer as a comment.

What are glutens? (best)

OR

Tell me as much as you can about meiosis that we didn't learn in class! (best)

Pippin's Question Box

What food group do mushrooms fall under and why? (Best)

Reminder: Post a comment with a link to your blog/answer or a comment with your answer!

Got Science?

Peppermints, anyone? Speaking of which, does anyone want to hear the story of how I discovered peppermints help with stomachaches? Skip the story if you wish, but I'm going to try to make it as amusing as possible (in third person!)

Once upon a time, Pippin had a stomachache. Now, Pippin was used to having stomachaches, becuase Pippin's stomach loves to act up. The only problem was, besides having a stomachache, it was a fun day at school, the day before holiday break. This made Pippin very sad. So Pippin tried to figure out how to deal with the stomachache. First, Pippin played a game called alibi with Pippin's friends. It was extremely amusing, but after the last round when Pippin poured spaghetti in Pippin's friend's pants instead of jelly (we didn't really do it, you just have to say something ridiculous), Pippin's stomach decided that playtime was over. So Pippin stopped playing. Then, Pippin decided to think about nice thoughts and discuss stomachaches. The stomachache discussion made Pippin's nice thoughts turn into "my stomach hurts." Then, Pippin's classmates all had to go back to the classroom. Pippin read a book in the classroom, because books make you think about the characters, not the stomachache you have. The stomachache did not go away. Then Pippin remembered that Pippin's mom said that a bit of candy helped stomachaches for some odd reason. So, Pippin ate a half of a mini candy cane to see what would happen (and also because the fact that looking at people eating candy canes makes you want to eat one too) and Pippin's stomachache began to go away! Pippin quickly ate the other half of the candy cane, and the stomachache was almost gone!! By then, Pippin didn't mind the stomachache and pippinned happily every ever after.

Odd story, isn't it? Remind me never to write a story about yourself in third person again. Or say pippinned. Anyway, apparently peppermint relaxes your stomach or something like that. Sunnyd mentioned that ginger also helps, but I don't like drinking ginger tea because it tastes kind of spicy. I should have looked up natural cures for stomachaches a long time ago, I can't believe I never thought of it... but I'm going to carry peppermints in my pencil case from now on anyway. Are we allowed to eat peppermints in school?

Also, I left out some things I wanted to say in the microwave post. Did you know?....
-That dried pasta will explode in the microwave without water (my friend did that when she was little, and the microwave didn't work afterwards...)
-That boiled eggs will explode in the microwave (we've had several incidents... but the microwave still works!)
-That eggplant will explode if you roast (not microwaved, but it's still an exploding food fact) it without poking holes in it (apparently, my old music teachers still finds bits of eggplant in the oven)
-That I've run out of exploding food facts. Feel free to amuse others and comment your own microwave incidents/exploding foods facts

And... I forgot. No, I remember! Another comment topic: cures for common ailments (which would be beneficial for everyone) It can be more than stomachaches, so cold cures, coughing, etc. I'll start: Hot water with honey is one of the best remedies for any throat ailments/coughing, warms you up, and tastes good.

Literature: "Wooden Bowls"

Here's my lit assignment for Wooden Bowls:

It was a really moving story. At first, when the son and daughter-in-law were annoyed at the grandpa, the story felt kind of sad and, well, in the pits. The son and daughter-in-law didn't realize what they were doing, the grandpa was feeling really left out, and the grandson just had to take it all. Later, when the grandson told his father that he was playing with the wooden scraps to make a bowl for them, I was a little worried that the parents would get mad at him too, so the fact that they actually realized the message made me happy. This relates to empathy (or a lack of it). In this case, the son and daughter-in-law lacked empathy for the grandfather because they didn't realize they were making their father feel left out, they thought that he was simply annoying. The grandson, however, had empathy and realized that his grandfather was upset. He sent the message to his parents by forcing them to go into his grandpa's shoes for a minute and think what having to eat from wooden bowls when they were older would be like. By making his parents empathize with his grandfather, the grandson managed to save the story.

Science Buzz

This is half class-reflection half current events, so I'm calling it a buzz.

Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'

Doesn't everyone love dolphins? When I was little, the pictures of dolphins in my book for little kids was my favorite page... second was the human body section, etc. Anyway, to the dolphins! They are smarter than they seem, it appears. Want to know what they can do? They can inspect themselves in mirrors (most think it's another animal, but dolphins realize it's themselves), solve problems, learn a simple sign language, teach others tricks (one captive dolphin who learned to tail-walk taught wild dolphins the trick), use tools (sponges on their mouth to protect from spiny fishes), have a sense of self, and more! Their brain size relative to their body size is also apparently second only to humans, and it has the folds that are linked to human intelligence (or something like that).

Wait, it's time for opinion now, right? Erm... coolio! You know, with all those dolphin stories of them saving us and everything, I think that it seems right that they are intelligent. When I was little, I used to see dolphins and orcas in Sea World all the time. We haven't gone to Sea World in a few years now, but we did go a dolphin sight-seeing boat last summer, and our guide did know quite a bit about dolphins. Dolphins can also "ping" you and detect things like what's in your stomach, your heart rate, and detect whether you're happy or anxious or panicking (which is probably how they know to save you if you're in the ocean). They are really playful, but are also really good at doing their stuff (namely, fishing). There was a huge pod (that's what you call a group of dolphins) of what she estimated as more than 100. It was extremely memorable. There were also brochures with facts about dolphins, some being alarming. They are seriously overworked in amusement parks. Did you know that the average dolphin in the wild can live to 50-60 years, whether as the dolphins in the amusement parks usually live only to 20? That's a serious difference. And... well, I don't really want to go into the other stuff I learned from the brochure.

Sunnyd said she'd teach us how to do a special Punnett Square (I can't remember what) I'm excited! Genetics is a cool topic. Scratch that, today is tomorrow and she gave us a packet (you don't have to understand that). Anyway, one last comment: for the "fun with Gregor Mendel" website, isn't there supposed to be 16 possibilities since there is two traits? They only give us four. Anyone able to explain this phenomenon?

PS: I never knew brochure was spelled with a ch!

Got Science?

Almost forgot! Did you know there's an expiration date on toothpaste?

Okay, the last question box: Can you bake a pie in a microwave? Apparently, yes. I yahooed it, and here are some results:

North pole Recipes (for pecan pie in the microwave): For some reason, I find "352 days until Christmas!" slightly amusing. Why bother count?

Metal and Pie in Microwaves: Thanks to iluvmusic! This website is all about using metal in the microwave and how it is safe when done correctly- and it does mention pie. Apparently, though, you have to use metal utensils and pots that are definately safe for the microwave because certain shapes and sizes and other factors will cause the metal thing not to work right. Also, don't stick any metal thing with a black plastic handle made of phenolic, because the handle will explode (there goes using our pots). Anyway, I'm not going to try- we once accidently put a little foil in the microwave and there were sparks and, well, scary stuff. We took it out immediately and I've been spooked ever since.


Kudos to smile4evah for having actually baked a pie in a microwave!

I actually thought of this question a loooonnng time ago, and my friend and I had an extremely... amusing conversation consisting of conducting experiments with pies and microwaves far away from civilization (in case it explodes). Well, that's it!

Pippin's Question Box

Why does peppermint help stomachaches? (best)

Note: See Question Box FAQ for important info!

Question Box FAQs

IMPORTANT: To help out Sunnyd, please post a comment either with your answer or with a link to your blog that has your answer. Thank you! :)

I have a feeling that people are a little confused, so here are some things to know (that get messed up).

1. Post your answer on your blog



2. The labels (the words in parentheses) tell you how to respond. They are independent of each other, meaning that if it says fast, you don't have to type a paragraph, just give an answer and a source. If it says best, type a paragraph and give a source, but you don't have to worry about when you published it (unless you've published it after I've already posted a new question box, in which case any answer will probably be null and void at that point)



3. Give a link to vertify your information- I don't know the answers and neither does Sunnyd! (in most cases, that is)



4. There is a new one every Wednesday.
5. The answers for the old question appear under Got Science? right before the new question box.

Since Sunnyd is a little swamped right now with other stuff on the blogs to grade, I'm going to also ask that you post a comment with a link to your blog if you have an answer. This way, at least for the time being, I can look at the answers and choose the winner and Sunnyd only has to vertify the winner- plus, I've been bugging Sunnyd quite a bit and I've just realized that, an annoyed Sunnyd- well, you know how that is ;) And one last thing: I know this is common sense, but if you want to comment on the Got Science or, for whatever reason, my homework assignment, or anything else, please post the comment on that post, not the question box. After all, it seems rather odd for a comment about (referring to my handy dandy homework assignment) deoxyribonucleic acid to show up on a post about Christmas trees. Don't you agree?

Poll: Would it be easier to post your answer as a comment? Links might be a nuisance, but if you think so, please say so- or if you don't, say why not.