Harvest of Fear

Should we Grow GM Crops?

Instructions: Read the page and click YES or NO, reach the next...click YES or NO...etc until you’ve read all the arguments -- You will need to do this 12 times in order for your votes to be tallied. Navigate the site, each of the bold headings below are links within the site


1. What is a GM Crop.

A GM crop is a fruit or vegetable that has been genetically modified.


2. List 2 arguments FOR the growing of GM crops

Crops can be engineered to grow in climates that they usually aren't suited for, so they could enhance the local economy. Also,
crops can be engineered to grow faster, so eventually there will be many more crops. Eventually, this could go as far as to combat world hunger.


3. List 2 arguments AGAINST the growing of GM crops.

Genetically modified crops can sometimes create new allergies and cause health risks.


*Read some of the reader’s responses.



Engineer a Crop

4. Practice this simulation until you get the largest ears of corn. How many times did it take you?

I bred the largest ears of corn in two tries.



What’s for Dinner?

*Click on the foods on the table to see what research is being done to bioenginner the foods.

5. List two foods and desribe how they are being modified.

Cotton is being genetically modified to be more resistant and tolerant to low moisture. Bananas are being modified to contain edible vaccines to a variety of diseases, such as hepatitis, polio, cholera, and malaria. Bananas are well-equipt for this job because their thick peel prevents contaminants from getting inside.




Viewpoints

*Read the article titled “Are GM Food Sufficiently Regulated in the US?”

Do you think food should be labeled if it has been genetically modified? Why or Why not?

I think that it would be considerate to mark genetically engineered items, so that anyone who is opposed to genetic engineering will be able to opt out of purchasing the items. This could last until genetic engineering became a more accepted practice.

IDENTICAL TWINS: PINPOINTING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON THE EPIGENOME

1. At birth, the identical twins' environment is the same, causing their expressed genes to be the same in turn. As they progress into adulthood, however, their experiences and environments will differ, causing changes in the twins' respective genomes. Eventually the expressed genes will cause the two twins to look different from one another.

2. Nutrition, exercise, and exposure to toxins all affect the epigenome of the twins.

3. An imprinted gene is defines as: "a gene whose expression has been affected by genomic imprinting so that only a single allele functions, the other being turned off by epigenetic mechanisms during embryonic development." This would apply to any gene affected by epigenomics.

YOUR ENVIRONMENT, YOUR EPIGENOME

1. No one in my family smokes, so I am exposed to relatively low levels of toxicity. I eat healthier and get more exercise than I used to, which may be why I've gotten thinner over the past few years.

LICK YOUR RATS

1. A high nurturing rat mother will excessively groom her cub. The more grooming a rat receives, the greater the amounts of GR proteins active in its brain. This will allow it to receive a calming chemical called cortisol easier than rats without GR.

2. Licking the baby rats activates its GR chemical.

3. GR proteins in the hippocampus attract the stress-relieving hormone cortisol. Because of this, rats that were licked as infants and had more GR proteins became calm quicker than those who were neglected.

4. In humans, children that are neglected are more likely to get into crime and drugs. Our parents are our premiere role models, so their actions and reactions to us profoundly impact how we turn out.

NUTRITION & THE EPIGENOME

1. The nutrients in the foods we eat create methyl groups (epigenetic tags that are responsible for gene expression). Some of these nutrients are folic acid, B vitamins, and SAM-e.

2. A mother's nutrition during pregnancy as well as the offspring's food as an infant can profoundly impact the child into adulthood. Genes such as obesity can be expressed if the mother does not have adequately healthy food.

EPIGENETICS & THE HUMAN BRAIN

1. In suicide cases, the levels of methyl are higher, resulting in less mRNA and ribosomes, and therefore less replication to take place.

2. Drugs can affect methylation by triggering epigenetic change in the brain. Some diseases can be reversed through these changes.

DNA Fingerprinting Lab Questions

Introduction

1. DNA is only the same in the case of identical twins.
2. They are used as evidence in crime investigations.

It Takes A Lickin

1.Somebody ate Jimmy's holographic lollipop.
2. Saliva was extracted from the scene.

Fingerprinting at the Nova Lab

1. Restriction enzymes cut DNA molecules like scissors, hacking at different parts.
2. It is a thick, gel-like substance that acts as a molecular strainer, allowing smaller pieces o flow through more easily.
3. Electrophoresis is the process of moving molecules with an electric current.
4. Easier
5. Placing the membrane over the gel makes it easier to work with.
6. Probes attach themselves to pieces of DNA along the membrane.
7. The probes produce radioactivity.
8. The DNA looks like a bar code. It is a mixture of thick strips and thin ones.
9. Honey licked the lollipop!!!!!

DNA Workshop site.

1.You can synthesize proteins and replicate DNA.

Paragraph on DNA Fingerprinting

A common way forensic investigators solve crimes is by using DNA fingerprinting. In this method, the culprit is identified by sets of numbers representing his/her the genes. It can be utilized in rape and other criminal cases, as well as paternity testing. Despite the 43.2% similarity in all human DNA sequences, separate code samples are still distinguishable. Some repetitive chunks of the genetic code, called variable number tandem repeats, are clearly different in every person. These are noted by investigators and then matched up in a database. The closest match to the dissected sample will be the culprit.

Online Mitosis Worksheet Answers

1. Which stage does the following occur:
Chromatin condenses into chromosomes: Prophase
Chromosomes align in center of cell. Metaphase
Longest part of the cell cycle. Anaphase
Nuclear envelope breaks down. Pro-metaphase
Cell is cleaved into two new daughter cells. Cytokinesis
Daughter chromosomes arrive at the poles. Telephase
Watch the video carefully.

2. The colored chromosomes represent chromatids. There are two of each color because one is an exact duplicate of the other.

--How many chromosomes are visible at the beginning of mitosis? There are 46 chromosomes at the beginning of mitosis.

-- How many are in each daughter cell at the end of mitosis? 46 are in each daughter cell at the end of mitosis.

--The little green T shaped things on the cell are: They are the centrioles

-- What happens to the centrioles during mitosis? There is one left on each new daughter cell.

3 . Identify the stages of these cells:

a. Metaphase
b. Telophase
c. Interphase

Prophase- In the prophase, the cell's chromosomes condense, its nucleolus disappears, the centrioles travel to the poles, and a web of spindle fiber forms.

Metaphase- During the metaphase, spindle fibers attach themselves to the chromosomes at the kinetochores, and then chromosomes separate into a line along the metaphase plate.

Telophase- Near the end of mitosis, the nuclear envelope materializes again, the chromosomes disperse around the cell, and the spindle fibers dissolve,

Interphase Prophase Metaphase Anaphase Telephase Total
20 10 3 2 1 36
56% 27% 8% 5% 3% 100%

Whitefish

View 1 View 2 View 3 View 4
Telophase Metaphase Prophase Anaphase

Onion

View 1 View 2 View 3 View 4 View 5
Metaphase Prophase Interphase Telophase Anaphase