Online Genetics Problems

Just a couple of links to some practice problems with explanations from the Biology Project website:

Mendelian Genetics

Human Genetics Problems

Quizzes - good for your head

Just thought some of you might like to see this brief article on the effects of testing on memory...maybe I should start giving pop quizzes...

Testing Boosts Memory

Rise of the Neanderthal

Two groups of scientists have announced that they have just sequenced DNA from a Neanderthal fossil. This is a huge breakthrough as it shows that scientists are making progress in their ability to detect, extract, and work with ancient DNA. Technological improvements are a big part of this advance. This is also huge in that it allows us to now begin looking for genetic answers to some questions that researchers have wondered about - when did modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor? did they interbreed? do we have traces of Neanderthal DNA in us? If so, what does this DNA do? Note: the idea that Neatnderthals were our ancestor has long been abandoned - it is now understood that humans and Neanderthals coexisted for a short while.

I am sure this will raise the question of cloning and whether or not we should/could/would "make" a Neanderthal, but for now I think it is exciting that we are pushing the envelope of genetics.

Neanderthal DNA Comes to Life

Sing-A-long Cellular respiration

So, as the cool kid i am i was surfing the web and i totally found some sick biology songs and figured id share them with you guys. Mostly theyre a little over the top and geeky but i found them amusing. My favorite is the glucose one but i put some others up as well. Hope you enjoy :)

http://www.science-groove.org/Now/Glucose.mp3- Glucose, Glucose

http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/MP3/comeondown.mp3 - Come on Down the Electron Transport chain

http://www.science-groove.org/Now/Krebs_lofi.mp3- The Krebs cycle

Geo Ducks or shall I say "Gooey Ducks"?

Has anyone ever heard of Geoducks. Pronounced gueyducks. They are these really amazing clams that live for an average of about 146 years. Pretty amazing life span I would say. I happen to see them on a show called Dirty Jobs and figure I would make a blog about them. I enjoyed the segment of Dirty Jobs on the discovery channel where Mike Rowe (Host of the show) jumps into a shore that had millions of Geoducks planted in it. It was also pretty entertaining when he actually got to see what they were used for. He visits a chinese restaurant and finds out that they use Geoducks for making sashimi. Anyway, I thought it was pretty entertaining so if you want to learn more about them check em' out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck

Sodium Potassium Pump

Here are a couple of animations for you - the first one is a bit over-the-top, especially with the sound effects; the second a bit boring, but more complete:

Na+/K+ pump animation #1
Na+/K+ pump #2

Extremophiles...on Mars?

Well, those pesky little extremophiles can't seem to leave us alone. They're in the news again - this time by giving credence to the idea that life may be possible on Mars. Apparently some microbes collected from Antarctic lakes are able to survive AND reproduce at temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius - comparable to some Martian subsurface temperatures.

Speaking with no expertise on the matter, I honestly doubt that life exists elsewhere in our solar system, but if it does, extremophiles are sure to be the life-forms found out there. You just can't get rid of those little buggers.

Life on Mars?

One of Biology's Great Mysteries

As New Englanders we are particularly in tune with the changing colors of deciduous tree leaves during autumn. It is one of those seasonal cues that warns us of the approaching winter, reminds us of a new school year, and makes us think of jack-o-lanterns, apple-picking, and fall harvests.

Scientists have long know how the leaves change colors. As leaves prepare to fall off the tree (an adaptation for the colder temperatures approaching), they stop producing chlorophyll, the pigment that makes leaves green. Without the green pigmentation, other pigments are produced, and thus, other colors "shine through". We even know the molecular makeup of these pigments. However, biologists have yet to figure out why trees bother to produce these other colors. Why spend energy on creating a red or yellow or orange pigment?

Carl Zimmer has a post on his blog that discusses some experiments that investigate changing leaf color. There are some intriguing ideas there, but, in the end, we still do not know why leaves change color.

Autumn Leaves

Membrane Transport Animation

Here's a rather nicely done animation that takes you through the various types of transport through the cell membrane - simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, osmosis, and various active transport mechanisms. We haven't (yet) convered all this in class, but the animation is worth a look.

Membrane Transport

online cell models

Not sure if this will be helpful, but here's a link to "interactive" plant and animal cells and their contents. I haven't explored the rest of the site, but it may also contain other useful tools as well.

Cells Alive

Inner Life of Cells

As we get ready to begin our exploration of the cell and its processes, here is a very cool computerized "music video" for you to take a look at. I don't have a lot of info about it except that it was made at Harvard and that it contains a lot of computerized video of the inner workings of cells and macromolecules. If nothing else it is an amazing example of the intersection of art and science. I will try to find out if this is a small example of a larger piece or if there is a "scene list" somewhere. But for now, sit back and enjoy.

BioVisions

(you should probably have a high speed connection for this one - and you'll need the Flash player to view it)

update: I just found an unofficial explanation of the video by someone named Andrew Sobala

Coldly goes the sloth

James' question in class about sloth body temperature made me curious, so I ran a quick search and came up with a couple of links for your enjoyment. Indeed, sloth body temperature is lower than most mammals. Whether they're slow because their body temperature is low or their body temp is low because they're slow is another question. And I have no idea how this effects the relative activity rate of slothian enzymes....though I am sure you all can make some hypotheses about the optimal temperature of them...maybe even something about the range of temperatures they function over.

Xenarthra.org
Wilderness Classroom

Catalase!

Nothing too exciting, but here's a rotating, 3D model of catalase...

Catalase model

Check this out! Wicked cool . . . http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/knots-0920.html I suppose it gives new meaning to when a person says he or she is "all knotted up inside."

Lucy and Bigfoot

ugly baby...jeeeez

my sister was telling me about that Lucy character. I guess she took this class on bigfoot. Yeah, that's right...a whole class on bigfoot. She knows all there is to know. She knows about Lucy too.

Pretty interesting.
k byeeee!

Lucy's "Baby"

This isn't really relevant to stuff we're talking about in class, but I thought it was an interesting discovery.

Scientists have unearthed the world's oldest human child - an amazingly complete fossil that dates to beyond 3 million years ago. Human evolution is not a topic we will cover much (if at all) in class and is something I wish I knew more about simply because I find it intereting to think about. If anyone is interested in this topic I have a pretty good book you could take a look at and there are a few websites out there I am sure we could dig up.

Anyways, here's the link to the National Geographic story:

World's Oldest Child

This is wicked cool!

Just testing to see if I signed up the right way. See y'all tomorrow. : )

Archaea

You may remember from class that one of the three domains of life is the Archaea (the other two are Bacteria and Eukarya). Members of Archaea are prokaryotic organisms that are usually found in extreme environments - in fact they are often called 'extremophiles'. They are found in areas of high salinity, temperature, acidity, or alkilinity. Others are found where oxygen levels are extremely low or non-existant (anoxic environments). Some very cool and very different biology going on with them (but not THAT different, which makes them even more interesting). Here are a few websites if you are interested in learning more about them:

Triumph of the archaea (an older article by Carl Zimmer, an exceptional science writer)

Intro to the Archaea

WikiPedia article on Archaea

Some biologists think that the Archaea are the base of the tree of life - that the earliest living things were Archaea (or Archaea-like) and that all other living things evolved from them. Recently there has been some debate over this sentiment as DNA evidence has come out to suggest that this may not be the case. Biology is full of mysteries and unsolved puzzles and the Archaea are one of them.

AP Bio Blog

Hi all -

Not sure how this site will work, but I thought it would be a good "central" online home for any news and events, interesting websites and info, and otherwise helpful stuff for the AP Biology class and exam. There is so much to cover in this class that sometimes the really fun details get pushed aside (like the ecology of the Archaea). Hopefully this blog will allow us to explore and discuss some of these things.

I've never run a blog like this before so I am unsure exactly how it works - you may be able to start new posts as well as comment on them, but I don't know that for sure. Only the members of our class are members of this blog so we are not a completely open community ("outsiders" can read this, but can't comment on it). I'll let you know about any particularly useful info posted here during class.

Some ground rules for posting/commenting:
1) keep it clean
2) keep it relevant
3) keep it respectful
4) keep it fun/interesting/useful

Major violations to the above rules will result in walking the plank into an Archaea-infested pool of water.

Finally, I'm sure that the structure of this blog will evolve over time to better suit its function (which I am also sure will evolve). Remember, science is a process and is constantly moving and changing. Scientists need to be like sailors - ready to change course when necessary. We can't change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust the sails.