Ian Joselow and Andrew GalanterPeriods 8 and 9

• Traits controlled by dominant alleles always show up in the organism if the allele is

present. A recessive allele, on the other hand, are masked in the presence of a

dominant allele.

• Co-dominance is a condition in which neither of the alleles are dominant or

recessive.

• The alleles of two parents combine to express traits by heredity- the passing of

traits from parents to offspring. The only thing which varies is if the trait is

homozygous or heterozygous.

Punnet squares are used to

predict what an offspring will

inherit from it’s parents

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT•Launched in the 1980s by scientist to understand the genetic

base of all disease. It was run by The Department of Energy

and the NIH (National Institute of Health). The Human

Genome Project was finished in April 2003.

•The Human Genome Project caused many implications

involving the social, ethical and legal actions of whether

genetic information should be kept private, for people did not

know who’s property the information belonged to or if it was

morally right to reveal such information.

•Because of the Human Genome Project, employers were

discriminating people looking for work based off of there

genetic information. These problems caused laws to be

changed and reformed, involving in the creation of GINA (The

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act).

Genetic Disorders•Single Gene Disorders: A single gene disorder is the result of having a mutation in a

single cell. These types of genetic disorders are individually extremely rare, but it has

been estimated that there are over 10,000 human diseases caused the defects of having

single cell disorder. These diseases usually have a simple and predictable trail of

inheritance within the family. If one wanted to see if a family member had any of these

traits one could consult a pedigree.

Chromosome Abnormalities (also known as aberrations) are when there are

abnormalities or mutations in a chromosome. When people are talking about karyotypes

they are referring to a full set of chromosomes. When you study a karyotype with genetic

testing you can discover anomalies this way, anomalies are when something has gone

wrong during mitosis or meiosis. Chromosome abnormalities are not unlike single gene

disorders but instead of a mutation in the whole cell, the mutation is within the

chromosomes.

Multifactorial Disorders not only have to do with a mutation of the cell or part of its cells,

but are contributed to the effects of the environment around us. These disorders do not

have a crystal clear trail of inheritance like Single Cell Disorders do. Thus, it is hard to

determine the probability of one getting such a disease. Some examples of Multifactorial

Disorders include Cancer, Asthma, Heart Disease, and Diabetes.

Perspective parents who have genetic disorders should probably consult

someone specialized in genetic counseling, or a person who consults the

risks involved with a child’s genes and possibility of a disorder if a child is

procreated. This would help the parents by showing them what there getting

into if they create a baby. The parents would get educated and if the need

for a child is desperate, gene therapy,cloning, or switching genes around to

create a functioning cluster of genes, is always an option.

Karyotypes are used to predict genetic disorders- these pictures of all the

chromosomes in its cells can reveal if a baby in development have the

correct number of chromosomes. If a developing baby does not have the

proper number of chromosomes, it may have a genetic disorder such as

Down’s Syndrome. Down’s Syndrome is a genetic disorder in which a

person’s cells have an extra copy of chromosome.

Bio fuel

Bio fuel is a source of fuel derived from recently deceased organisms. This source of fuel is considered an alternative to what we normally use: ancient organic materials, like Fossil fuels. Bio fuel is also called “green fuel”. Fossil fuels are technically bio fuels, but it took millions of years for the organisms to disintegrate into fuel. Many countries are interested in using bio fuels and some countries already use it. But most countries just blend it into regular gasoline to use less gasoline. There are two chemicals to make bio fuel. One, known as Methanol is only made by processing it in factories. But the other chemical, ethanol, can be made at home from natural plants.

Bio fuels are easy to make

•Bio fuels are quite easy to make and receive. According to

scientists, with a little work, it can even be made at home!

•National Geographic is also wanting to protect our environment

and says that the crops grown for bio fuels would also absorb

the carbon dioxide produced from cars burning off bio fuel.

Creating a constant cycle without releasing green house

gasses. So planting a few trees in your back yard can make a

big difference! They clean up your air and allow you to not

worry about how much bio fuel you burn.

•In the dictionary, the definition of bio fuel is, “a wide range of

fuels which are in some way derived from biomass. The term

covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases.” which

means that nearly any living thing can create bio fuel. Even the

gases released from our dumps can be used as a biogas fuel

instead of becoming a green house gas!

Bio Fuels are Cheaper!•Have you ever been to the gas station and noticed the price? The

average price for gas in the U.S. is almost four dollars a gallon! That

is a lot of money! The more gas being used, the faster it will

disappear, and the less gas there is, the higher the price.

•Compared to gasoline, bio fuels are saints! Since bio fuel is

renewable (see next slide for more info), it would be cheaper at gas

stations since it can’t run out. The only thing you have to do is once

you harvest plants and other natural resources, you just replant them

and reuse them. That is much easier then using gasoline!

=

Better for the environment!

• Bio fuel does not contribute to global warming: the carbon dioxide of which they emit

back to the environment was absorbed from the atmosphere in the first place!

Bio fuels, by nature, are renewable sources of energy. Another words, because bio

fuels can be produced from agricultural crops, if we were to run out of crops we could

just grow some more, resulting in more bio fuel. What we currently use as fuel, fossil

fuel and petroleum deposits, are non-renewable sources of fuel. So hypothetically, if

we were to run out of these fuels, they would be completely done with and gone- there

would be none more to use. But with bio fuels, you always have the guarantee of not

running out, as you could always grow more sources of bio fuel (crops).

Easy to Use and adjust to!

• Unlike other renewable energy sources, such as wind energy or solar energy,

people could easily adjust to bio fuels without any special apparatus. In the

aforementioned sources of energy (wind and solar) you would need to go out, buy,

and install such equipment as solar panels and wind mills. But with bio fuels you

could easily use your existing vehicle. However, if one to use bio fuels (like ethanol)

to replace gasoline in their car, they would need to have a “flex fuel” model. A flex-

fuel model is a car that could take both gasoline and bio fuels. Believe it or not,

most cars are actually “flex fuel” models. Usually, people are unaware that their

vehicle is a “flex fuel” model.

•According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, as of 2005, approximately 5

million flex-fuel vehicles have been sold in the U.S alone.

And now for a shift in opinions: The Negatives of Bio fuel.

Bio fuel can increase food prices!

If we were to use Bio fuel, there would be an ever-growing demand and need for corn and soybeans (such things can be used for Bio fuel.) Thus, if people wanted to buy some for eating purposes, the price would be higher because of the lower availability. There would be less availability because large quantities of it would be need for the production of Bio fuel.

“If more crops are used for fuel production instead of food, the result could be global food insecurity.”- Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute .

Uses more Energy than we can Generate!

In 2005, David Pimental of Cornell University, conducted an experiment in which “the numbers did not just add up.” He derived this piece of information by factoring the amount of energy needed to grow crops and then convert them into Bio fuel. In his study, Pimental concluded that by producing ethanol from corn requires 29% more energy than is generated from the product itself. The same troubling numbers apply to the use of soybeans for Bio fuel.

Bio fuel needs a lot of resources!

When you use plants and natural resources that can be renewed, you obviously need to have the space, water, and fertilizer to grow these things. Such space can not easily be given up in this society.

Bio fuel is unnatural!

With deforestation happening much more than a few years ago, we make space for crops and farmland that there is much less natural wildlife instead of processed agriculture.

ConclusionSo, in closing, we firmly believe that Bio fuel should be funnded by the federal

government. Bio fuel would be an efficient alternative to gasoline. It is better for

our environments and less expensive than gasoline. Hopefully, in the not too

distant future, our country will be able to entirely switch over to bio fuel.

Not only would it be better for us as people, but it would benefit the whole Earth as

it is very much Eco-friendly.

We are actually closer that you think: in 2008 Virgin Atlantic became the first airline

to fly with Bio fuel!.

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