Genethics: Case 5

Case Study 5:  Who has a right to know?

Cheri is a recently married 25-year-old eager to start a family.  Her father recently died of a dominant genetic disease.  This disease does not appear until people are in their thirties, and then they slowly lose their nerve function until they die ten or twenty years later.

Cheri has a 50% chance of carrying this fatal gene, for which there is no treatment or cure for adults.  (There is a cure for children, but only if they are treated immediately after birth.)  If she does have the gene, each of her children will also have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene.  She can find out if she has this gene either by waiting to get symptoms of the disease or through genetic testing.

She does not want to be tested because she does not feel she could handle the possible bad news.  She also does not want her future children to be tested, because if they should test positive, she will know that she will come down with the disease herself (she doesn’t feel she could handle this news).

By not testing her children, she will deny them their only opportunity to be cured of the disease if they do carry the gene.

Ethical Questions:  Do you think Cheri has an ethical obligation to test her children?  Do you think she should be tested before having children?  Should Cheri’s community/government be involved in the decision?

Your Position:  I believe that Cheri has an obligation to test her children. It's not right to possibly let her children suffer from a disease that can be cured at birth. She can't make her children suffer from their inherited disease if there is a cure! I think that it's right for Cherri to at least test her children and if they are affected cure them. I think that Cheri not testing her children, would be like the Richard Parker story. The captain and the other sailor who killed Richard would be the mother and Richard would be the kids. Richard didn't have a say in the matter, and the kids aren't born yet, but I'm pretty sure the kids would want to be cured and Richard wouldn't have wanted to be eaten. The captain and other sailor who killed Richard would be the mother because they could have done the right thing, but they didn't and Richard was eaten and Cherri doesn't want to test her kids. Cheri doesn't have to be tested but she shouldn't be so caught up in her own problems of possibly having the disease, she would just have to live with her fate. But if she can make her children's life better, healthier, and longer why not get them tested at birth? I don't think that Cheri's community or government should be involved in this decision, because it doesn't affect them. If Cheri's neighbour had a say in the matter it would be like telling your teacher how to teach. It's their job and their decision not yours. So the government and community shouldn't have any part in Cheri's decision. Only Cheri's direct family should be involved, which would include her mother, her husband, and her husband's parents. In science we learnt a whole lot about genetic diseases and the probabilities that they would be passed on through generations. For one of our projects this semester we even had to research a genetic disease (a sex linked trait or a chromosomal disorder). Through that project I learnt how to interpret pedigrees, punnett squares, and possible genotypes. Using that information I can then figure out the odds of having children that are affected by a genetic disorder. Based on the information given above and my understanding of punnett squares I can come up with a couple of possible genotypes for Cheri’s family... Cheri’s dad: Dd (heterozygous and affected) Cheri’s mom: dd (homozygous recessive and not affected) Cheri’s husband: dd (homozygous recessive and not affected) Cheri can have two possible genotypes. One genotype causes her to be affected and the other causes her not to be affected. Below is a punnett square which illustrates the probabilities of each. As you can see from the punnett square, Cheri has a 50% chance of being affected by the disease and a 50% chance of not having the disease. If we want to figure out Cheri’s children’s genotypes we can use another punnett square. For this punnett square let’s pretend that Cheri is affected, because we aren’t 100% sure until Cheri turns 30 if she has the disease or not. If Cheri isn’t affected then her children would have a 0% chance of being affected, but let’s say that she is affected. Since Cheri’s genotype is Dd (heterozygous and affected) and her husband’s genotype is dd (homozygous and unaffected), Cheri’s children and Cheri both have a 50% chance of being affected by the disease and a 50% chance being unaffected. Based on what I’ve learnt in previous science classes and based on my morals and beliefs, I still think that what Cheri is doing it wrong. She should at least get her children tested so that they will be able to survive and be cured. Cheri may have to live with the fact that she has the disease, but at least she’ll know that she saved her children by curing them when they were born.

Aquatic Tank- Guppies

Introduction
The guppy also known as million fish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish, and is one of the most popular fresh water aquarium fish species. It is a member of the Poecilidae family and, like all other members of the family, is live-bearing. They are highly adaptable and thrive in many different environmental and ecological conditions. Male guppies are smaller than female guppies.

Guppy Needs
- Food: If you don't feed a guppy the right food then they could die. Guppies should be feed once a day:
Algae
Tubifex worms
Flake food
Brine shrimp
Bloodworms, micro worms, fruit flies, mosquito larvae, Daphnia and chopped up earthworms
- Light: The light should be on for 8-12 hours a day (timers are helpful).
- Temperature: Keep the tank at 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Space: Guppies need enough room to move around comfortably. They are speedy swimmers and like to dart back and forth, so plenty of space is important to their happiness and overall success. Figure on giving your fish about 2 gallons of water each. 
- Water: Guppies need dechlorinated water, changing 25% of it each week. Treat any water added to tank with water conditioner. pH and ammonia tests should be regular.

How will we meeting the guppies' needs
We will make sure that out tanks aren't too over crowded, and if they start to reproduce quickly then we will separate the guppies as sometimes the adult guppies eat the new borns. The diet of just tubifex worms does not allow full growth. Adults should be fed flake food and tubifex, and the young should be fed crushed up brine shrimp and flake food. We will also make sure that our pH and dissolved oxygen levels are regular and safe for the guppies to live in. We will also make sure that the guppies are fed once a day and have enough light (8-12) hours throughout the day. 

Guppies in its mini ecosystem
The main interaction is between the male and female guppies, they will be reproducing constantly creating a lot of fry (young guppies). The second interaction would be between the guppies and the tubifex worms-  guppies can feed off of tubifex worms. Other than this, there probably won't be much interaction with the guppies and the other factors in the tank (snails, elodea, duckweed, and gravel).  

How many guppies can I keep in my tank
When you're dealing with guppies, you should keep a proportion of three females per one male, or all one gender. I'm not sure how big our tank in school is, but the rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. 

Mars Questions

Would you consider living on planet Mars?

No definitely not. I would hate to leave society and the modern world, to never come back, and to never see my family or friends again. I would be devastated to just leave planet Earth and never hear the new music, never hear about the current news/events, never see the newest of technology, and not finish my education. It would be a boring life, living on Mars. Truthfully, I find it hard to believe that 200,000 individuals would get onto a space ship in a heart beat taking them to Mars. These people would be stuck in Mars, never able to come back, and would be the only few living things on Mars. Adding onto that, the worst part about the one way ticket deal is that Mars could be a journey of death for them. What if the capsules aren't able to come to mars every two years and provide them with new people from Earth, and their needed resources. Then everyone would die, and I would not like to experience any of this. Also, the process of actually getting to Mars from Earth takes one whole year. I get fed up from flying in an airplane for more than 5 hours, I don't know how I would survive staying in a space shuttle for one whole YEAR!

What do you think it will take to support life there?

It will take the basic needs that people need to survive in Earth to support the people living in Mars. These basic needs are water, food, clothing, oxygen, shelter, and maybe when the community in Mars gets more developed even education. You can use water for bathing, cleaning, and cooking, agriculture, and drinking. Other things that are need to support the life of people in Mars are many plants that give oxygen to humans and take in carbon dioxide, and other human beings to help reproduce. They should also bring a couple of extra air tanks for extra air. To be more personal, people would need commitment and determination to live in Mars because it will be a hard process.

Biosphere collapsed due to too much concrete and ants. What do you predict could be the collapse of this ecosystem?

I think that the collapse of this ecosystem is not enough plants growing in Mars. As a result, there would not be enough soil, oxygen, or carbon dioxide on Mars. And without carbon dioxide plants can't grow, which means that people won't be able to breathe in oxygen. This will make breathing in Mars very difficult and hard to do. Furthermore, with such a harsh and inhumane living conditions in Mars, it will be very hard to survive. Therefore, the ecosystem in Mars might just collapse.

ITN Reflection and Goal Setting 2014

ITN Reflection and Goal Setting

"Anya,  Thanks for sharing about an interesting topic that I didn’t know about.  You really were an expert, and this allowed your classmates to clearly understand all of the complexities surrounding this interesting man.  I especially likes how you showed both the positive and negative aspects of Narendra Modi’s career so far.  It makes him human and provides us with a fuller picture of who he is.  A few suggestions for next time:  1)  Include maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted, and 2)  Continue to work on controlled movement.  Very well done!" My comment written by Mr. Derksen.

A good ITN presentation includes being an expert in the topic so that you’ll be able to teach the class well and answer the question that you will be asked. You should also have every slide in your presentation showing the “show don’t tell method”, with no more than one sentence per slide. Lastly, you should have lots of evidence to back up your talking points and have reasoned perspectives that make sense.  

I really liked my presentation and think that I did well in it. One thing that I did well in was that I shared about a topic that not many people knew about, so I was able to teach them something new. I also really knew my topic well acting as an expert, which helped my classmates to clearly understand everything that I was teaching them. I had a big topic so I had a lot of teaching points and a lot to talk about. My topic also had its good and bad sides which made it more interesting and and fun to hear about. Narendra Modi, like everyone else, had a good and bad side, which made him more human and relatable to. I also presented my slides using the method “show don’t tell” with lots of pictures on each page. I also had lots of supporting evidence and details to backup my talking point and my perspectives. My perspectives were clear, understandable, and not surprising, basically, they made sense. Lastly, my class really learnt a lot from this because as were able to answer all the questions right.

But, there are also a couple of things that I would like to improve on. One thing that I made a mistake on was including detailed and real maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted. What I did was put a picture of India with Narendra Modi’s picture in inside the country, I should’ve found a map of india that shows every place there.

Another thing I need to improve on is my controlled movement. Sometimes in my presentation I would sway or fidget my my clothes, which can sometimes be distracting to your audience.

During my next ITN I would like to improve in putting real and detailed pictures of the parts of the world impacted, not an animated or undetailed ones. This goal will be easy to achieve as all I have to do is remember to put the right pictures in my presentation and if I forget I will go over the rubric carefully making sure that I have all the criteria in my presentation.

I would also like to improve on controlling my movement. I will do this by practicing my presentation over and over again to my parents, friends, and family. They will critique me if I’m fidgeting about, by the time this is over I will be about to control my movement better when I present. Therefore, this goal is achievable as long as I practice, because practice makes perfect!

Wet Market Field Trip

Today my class and I went on a field trip to a wet market near our school. We saw many types of fruits, spices, and flowers, but by the time we reached the wet market the vegetable shop was closed.

The first thing that I learnt about was a fruit called dragon fruit. Dragon fruits come in three colors: yellow, purple, and white. The dragon fruits are called dragon fruits because they have scales that look like "dragon" scales. Dragon fruits have lots and lots of seeds. Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya fruit, is among the most nutritious and wonderful exotic fruits. It features a light sweet taste and other vital minerals with varied nutritional ingredients. Recent findings show that if an obese person eats a Pitaya fruit it naturally reduces the weight considerably. The Pitaya fruit  is the fruit of several cactus species and only blooms at night. The seed dispersal of dragon fruits happen with the relationship of animals. The dragon fruit has spiky scales that keep away certain predators, but it also is quite attractive in color which attracts animals. Animals eat from this fruit and then they move about to new place far away from the place where they first ate the dragon fruit and poo out the dragon fruit seeds.

I also learnt a lot about the spice called star anise or also known as illicium verum. This spice is the seed pod of an evergreen tree grown in northeast southwestern China. The star-shaped fruit is picked just before ripening. Star anise is about one inch high and is a dark brown rust color. Star anise has a licorice taste, smell nice, shaped like a star, and has spiky edges. Star anise can be used in cooking and medical uses. Because the edges one the star anise are spiky they have good seed dispersal. The spiky edges of the anise get stuck to the fur of animals and then the seeds are placed into a new environment where they can get lots of sunlight. This will only happen when an animal shakes of the seed or the seed just falls off.

The last fruit I learnt about is called jackfruit. Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit reaching as much as 80 pounds in weight, 36 inches in length, and 30 inches in diameter. You can also see hexagon based thorns on the skin of a jackfruit, and the thorns become smoother when the fruits ripen. Jackfruits can be made into canned fruits and cooked as vegetable when unripe. There are two types of jackfruit- the yellowish/golden one and the green one. The yellowish/golden jackfruit tastes sweet, tender, and refreshing. This type of jackfruit is liked the most. Because jackfruits are very spiky it protects its self from unwanted predators. The jackfruit is too big and heavy to stick onto an animals fur. Once an animal eats the jackfruit it goes somewhere else and disposes of the seeds by pooping them out. The animal poops out these jackfruit seeds in a totally different place from before.


There are many reasons why there are so many different types of fruits, vegetables, and spices on Earth. I think that one of the reasons is that all animals, like people, have different tastes buds and likes and dislikes. Therefore, if there was only one fruit or vegetable on earth some animals might not like this fruit or vegetable and the seed dispersal won't work that well, and soon the fruit or vegetable might become extinct. Another way that the fruit or vegetable would become distinct is if the animal that helps reproduce this type of fruit or vegetable became extinct. This would mean that there would be no third wheel helping the plant reproduce. Furthermore, it is good that mother nature has made a variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices.

The Benefits and Negative Effects of Volcanoes

Volcanoes can be good and bad. But, I strongly believe that volcanoes have are more benefits than negative parts to them. Many people think that all Volcanoes do is explode and kill people, but they actually have a lot more to them.

Volcanoes help people with their everyday basic needs, learning about the past, trading precious medals, etc. Volcanoes produce ash and that ash brings richness to the soil. This helps farmers with their farming so that they can grow an abundance of rich crops. Farmers can either sell/ trade their crops or his family can consume them for food. Volcanoes geothermal power. Geothermal power is power generated from the heat within the earth. The heat in the earth heats up aquifers of water within the crust and the resulting steam is tapped to run turbines that then generates electricity. With volcanoes you can makes health spas and hot springs, these things help the human body enjoy recreation and solve health issues. This would be a tourist attraction around the world, where companies could get lots of money. With volcanoes people get precious gems--diamonds and opals, and sources of metal-- gold, silver, cooper, zinc, lead, and mercury. With all of these gems and metals, countries could get lots of money through trade and in the market. After a volcano hit scientists and archaeologist can find preserved fossils of past animals, humans, and plants. This is important because later on in the future humans will be able to see what humans, animals, and plants were like. After a volcano erupts and the tops blows off, you can use the volcano as construction material for buildings and walls. These walls would be water-resistant concrete from volcanic ash. With such amazing walls houses would be built very sturdy ready for anything. When there is a volcano tourists from around the world would want to go to see it, this would bring lots of money to the community. People get hydroelectric power  from rivers flowing off the large volcanoes. Hydroelectric power is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower. Since the earth was created, 4.5 billion years ago, volcanoes have been adding water to the atmosphere. This insures that even later on in life there will always be water in the atmosphere.

Volcanoes might have tons of good parts to them but they also have the devastating, negative effects. Volcanoes are very destructive to human settlement. They destroy habitats, crops, wildlife, and forest. This would kill tons of animals and plants, therefore cutting down our resources. Trees give us air to breathe, and if trees keep on getting destroyed the amount of air we breathe will start decreasing. Also, we humans eat tons of animals and plants, and if these resources start to disappear then even more people in the world will start to starve. Volcanoes can significantly alter weather patterns after eruptions. So weather news casters won't be too sure when it's raining season, or when it's gonna be too cold. This will leave people not knowing when to get ready for what season. Volcanoes block the sunlight, which would be very bad for a country with lots of farming going on. The reason I say this is because plants need sunlight to grow, and with plants dying farmers won't have anything to make al living out of. Volcanoes can generate huge tsunamis which kill many people and destroy many homes. Before a big volcano eruption the government would want to evacuate as many people as possible. But, the cost to evacuate everyone can be astronomical. After the volcano has erupted and ruined homes and buildings the cost to clean up can also be astronomical. These explosions add carbon and sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere, which is bad for the environment.

Volcanoes can have its up and downs, but in the end you can never stop a volcano to erupting, it's human nature. So instead of avoiding volcano eruptions people should try to make their way around them. People should benefit from the gifts that volcanoes provide, but people should try to prevent the curses that volcanoes have.

Pakistan's Earthquake Island

All my information is from an article which my science teacher found. This article is on Pakistan's Earthquake Island. 

There was a new island made from an earthquake in Pakistan. The question is... how? Well, the island was formed with the earthquake shook a deposit of natural gas trapped below the surface. Also, hot water underground mixes with sediments and gases. This loosened the material above it, allowing the gas to rise, carrying mud, rock and sand with it. So this island is probably a mud volcano. If the harmful slurry finds a crack opened by earthquake shaking, a mud volcano erupts. 

This island, unfortunately, won't last long because it's not solid. Within a few years erosion will tear it down. So basically, as the layer cools and settles, waves and storms will wash was away the loose and soft clay. 

Google Science Fair- August 16th

In science class our homework was to watch videos on the finalists in the Google Science Fair. After watching all the videos and seeing how many great invention kids have made I picked out one invention that I thought was the most useful and important invention, and then I voted for it on the Google Science Fair website.

I voted for the contestant Shrishti Asthana who is only 15 years old. Shrishti came up with a GREEN method to clean detergent water from industrial and domestic sources. The method that Shrishti came up with is the use of Nano ZnO assisted photo catalytic degradation using solar light. Not only does this method create clean water it also has a fast reaction time, a short treatment time, less cost, less exposure for workers, and non-toxic end products. What these things mean is that, using this method Shrishti will be able to clean water very fast and efficiently. This method to clean water will also not cost as much as other ways that peple clean water now days. This method will also make the workers life easier as they will not have lots of exposure. This method will create non-toxic end products which will be better for the earth. When Shrishti grows older she plans on commercializing this method after comparing it with GREEN methods, and then she will lower the costs so that even the weaker society can have clean water and benefit from her results. 

I think that Shrishti came up with a very amazing method, and she is a good person to be lowering her costs so that people in the weaker society can have clean and safe water to drink, bathe in, and clean things with. 

Here is my Poster

Digital Citizenship Agreement

During Science class we learned about the Digital Citizenship Agreement. In this class there were five main topics that we learnt about...

1. Respect and Protect Yourself:

• Be careful of your actions. Don't go around writing dumb or hurtful stuff. 
• Only write appropriate information. No inappropriate usernames or images.
• Consider what you share with people on the internet because it may affect you late on in life.
• Don't share ANY personal information online:
• Number, email, address, age, school, passwords, accounts, etc.
• Tell an adult if something bad is going on or you think that something isn't right. 
• Have a good balance between online and offline. 

2. Respect and Protect Others:

• Don't go online bullying people. And don't comment anything mean. Only say something that you would be able to say in public in front of someone's face, because it's way easier to say something rude online than offline.  
• Don't enter other people accounts or private spaces. 
• Don't share/ forward inappropriate materials. Don't post videos or pictures of people online.
• Don't share any personal information of anyone online. 

3. Respect and Protect Property:

• Don't download computer viruses or other odd softwares.
• Don't torrent or peer to peer. 
• Take care of the laptop and make sure that it stays in good shape. 
• Come to school with a fully charged battery, carrying it in the case that was given to us. 
• Don't leave my laptop unattended. Either leave it in my locker or with me in my hands. 
• Back up my data. 

4. Respect and Protect Intellectual Property:

• DON'T steal other people's hard work. 
• If you want pictures for a presentation or something don't just go on google and take any random photo, you have to make sure that the owner of this photo is allowing you to use their photo. 
• Don't just take songs or movies of random websites which give it to you for free, because then your torrenting and soon your computer will have viruses on it. It is also not fair to the owner of these things. 

5. Why the Digital Citizenship Agreement (DCA) is important:

• So that we know how to use our laptops properly and safely. 
• And know the guidelines.

Power Point

Here's a presentation I made in P.E. about using my laptop and the topics under this subject. I hope you enjoy!

How to Bookmark

Here is my video on how to bookmark pages on a MacBook Air. 

Explaining My Avatar

My avatar is a picture of ballet shoes with many designs on them. The reason that I drew ballet shoes is because I love to dance. The top laces that go around my ankles have the names 'Anya' and 'Riya' written. I wrote these names because Riya is my twin sister so I wanted to show that big and clear. On the other laces which criss-cross I have drawn pictures that symbolizes my personality, hobbies, tastes, etc. For my hobbies and tastes I have drawn a cupcake, a nail polish bottle, and math equations. The cupcake shows that I like lots of deserts. The nail polish bottle shows that I love painting my nails. The math equation show that I like math. For my personality I have drawn a smiley face, a heart, and two hands. The smiley face symbolizes how I am very cheerful. The heart symbolizes how I have a big heart. The two hands about to hold hands symbolizes how I am friendly.  On top of the criss-cross laces I have flags. One flag is the American flag and the second one is the Indian flag. I have these two flags drawn because I was born in America but I am from an Indian origin (my parents and ancestors are Indian). Below the criss-cross laces I have drawn an earth and a sun. The earth symbolizes how I have traveled and lived in many places. The little orange stars on the earth show that I have lived in five countries/cities/ states: New York, New Jersey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and now Singapore. The sun shows that I love summer because it's holiday time and my birthday is in the summer. At the bottom of the ballet shoes I have drawn more hobbies of mine. For example, I drew: A book, water, art supplies, music notes, and a squash racquet. The book symbolizes how I love to read. The water symbolizes how I love to swim and go into the ocean. The art supplies symbolize that I like artistic things like drawing. The music notes symbolize that I like to listen to music. The squash racquet symbolizes that I like to play squash and other sports.