Module 12 Prompt

 Module 12:  Reflection Prompt

 

Cardiovascular Disease: Coronary Artery Disease

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Coronary Artery Disease is the most common cardiovascular disease in the United States. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is due to the buildup of plaque in the walls of the coronary arteries. These arteries are ones that supply blood to the heart and various parts of the body. Plaque comes from mostly cholesterol deposits, along with other substances. The buildup of plaque will eventually cause the narrowing of the arteries over time. This can partially or completely block the blood flow through the artery.

There are various symptoms for CAD which include:  chest discomfort/pain, discomfort or pain in arms or shoulders, nausea, cold sweat, light-headedness, etc. Over time, if CAD is not treated, the heart muscles can weaken and can lead to heart failure. Those who are obese, physically inactive, have unhealthy eating habits, and/or those who smoke tobacco are at a greater risk of developing CAD. People whose family has a history of heart disease are at a higher risk of developing this disease. CAD can be diagnosed through various tests such as EKGs, echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and exercise stress tests.

A healthy lifestyle can help keep our arteries strong and clear of major plaque buildup. Those who smoke tobacco and work on quitting the habit for good. Staying physically active and having a healthy diet while maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of developing CAD as well. Another way to help prevent getting this disease is controlling certain levels in your body with medication and a healthy lifestyle. Managing your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and diabetes is key to prevention. As with every disease, managing and even reducing stress levels will also help in preventing CAD.

Coronary Artery Disease | cdc.gov

Coronary artery disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Module 11 Prompt

 Module 11 Prompt:

 

In the book, it talks about how hybridization from secondary contact can lead to homoploid hybrid speciation. An example of this is the formation of a new species that are isolated reproductively from both parents but without any change in the ploidy levels. This isn’t very common but is seen in insects, amphibians, fishes, and birds. We even see them in marine mammals as well. One that most people would be familiar with though is the famous Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands. The hybridization between the mating of the male Espanola cactus finch and the female medium ground finches from different islands is a classic example. The hybridization event produced a new lineage that became endemic to the Daphne Major Island. The lineage is known as the “big bird lineage” because of the size of the birds! They even caused the new lineage to become isolated reproductively from other species that occurred naturally on the island ultimately.

The process of speciation usually takes some time but in the case of the “big birds” finches, it happened very quickly. According to an article in futurity, speciation happened in just two generations….TWO! I don’t know about y’all but that is very hard to wrap around my head right now. It is safe to say Charles Darwin might have had a heart attack had he seen this happen way back when. These birds have their own beak morphology as well which makes them different from the other finches. I think this is a great example of hybridization because we’ve already discussed Darwin’s finches and it’s cool to add a new concept to talk about with these birds.

New 'Big Birds' in Galápagos arose super fast - Futurity

Blog Post Module 9:

 Blog Post Module 9: Reflection Prompt - Option 1

 

Camels

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These majestic and awesome hoofed animals are badass, in my humble opinion. Most people know that there are two main types or species of camels: ones that have one hump and those have two humps. Camels that have one hump on their back typically live in warmer climates while those with two live in colder climates. Their humps allow camels to store a lot of fat that they need to live off of for weeks or months at a time when nutrients and water are scarce.

An interesting fact about camels is that their red blood cells are oval-shaped which isn’t like blood cells in mammals. The shape helps facilitate blood flow during dehydrated states and is able to withstand high variation of diffusion of water through the cell membrane without bursting; this helps ensure that these creatures can drink a lot of water at one time.

Another interesting aspect of camels is their eyelids. Camels actually have three sets of eyelids in order to keep the sand out of their eyes which was a necessary adaptation to their tough environment. Additionally, camels also have two rows of thick eyelashes to also help keep sand out of their eyes. Camels also have the ability to shut their nostrils during rough sandstorms.

On top of all of this, these glorious animals can run up to 40 miles an hour which is about the same as a racehorse! THEY ARE SPEED. They can also spit in order to distract from an impending attack on something they consider dangerous or threatening so you better keep your distance and not get on their bad side. I would say you can try and run away but they WILL catch you.

Camels are just really cool animals that have adapted to their environments very well and I hope to meet one someday!

13 Fun Facts About Camels | SPANA

Camels - All About Camels Facts, Information & Pictures (animalcorner.org)

Blog 10

 

                                                Enjoy this picture of a majestic llama :)

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The pipefish species is a perfect example of sexual dimorphism in nature. For this prompt, we were asked to watch a video of a display of courtship between the male and female species. While normally, the male of the species has elaborate morphological structures and striking colors attempting to court the female of the species. The female of the species, on the other hand, is typically the one that looks “dull” and has no striking colors, and is being courted. In the cases of the pipefish, we see some sort of a ‘switch’ in these courting relationships. Instead, the females have a striking appearance and are courting the ‘dull’ males.

The question we are asked to consider is how does something like this evolve? We believe that this sexual dimorphism is a consequence of adaptive evolution. Males and females are different in their investment in offspring production. We typically see the males who stand out in appearances as only having the role of providing sperm in the production of the offspring. The ‘drabby’ females do the rest of the work. We can formulate a hypothesis that pipefish have the roles reversed in sexual dimorphism because the males actually do most the of work in the production of healthy offspring and females only provide the egg.  

The whole point of one of the partners to look ‘pretty’ is to show the other partner that they are fit and have great and healthy genes to pass down to potential offspring. The other partner that has no ‘pazazz’ doesn’t need to prove anything to their partner as they are being courted, or sought after. In the case of the pipefish, the females have adapted to display colors and prove to their male counterparts that they have great genes and will produce healthy and strong offspring

Module 8

 

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Enjoy this funny meme I found online while reading about genetic variation!

Genetic variation is the differences in DNA between individuals or populations and is caused by genetic drift, genetic recombination, mutations, and more. This process is something that is important for a population because having different alleles and DNA allows for a population as a whole to adapt, thrive, and evolve. The evolution of the population is a success in terms of science. If we didn’t have some genetic variation, a population would likely struggle if a disease swept in. We could also see problems with potential inbreeding if there wasn’t any variation in a population. We learned in a previous module the nasty side effect of inbreeding.

Even with this information, it is still assumed that selection eliminates genetic variation. However, genetic variation does not erode over time. How can genetic variation be present continuously in populations even though the selection is happening? Perhaps, it’s the mutation aspect of this situation. This is something that constantly occurs in life and is randomized. We will always see a new mutation from some species or population, and it ensures that there will thus always be at least some genetic variation. We can also see genetic drift and genetic recombination having a hand in this as well. Genetic drift is the variation in the frequency of different genotypes in a population, granted, this would only be a factor in smaller populations. Genetic recombination is the rearrangement of the DNA sequences. This ensures a difference in sequences within a population, thus, a variation in genetics. Overall, even though selection occurs within a population, there will always be some form of genetic variation. 

Half-way Mark

 

halfway there meme - Bing images

I can’t even begin to believe that we are halfway through this class and the very last semester of my undergraduate degree. It feels like I should still be a freshman in college going through the introduction classes of my major and minors. I feel like I have learned a lot throughout this semester and yet when I try to grasp the recently learned information, I can’t for the life of me even begin to describe what that information is exactly! I blame it on senioritis. I learned in this class that evolution is such a broad concept that I probably will never truly grasp every single part under this umbrella term. I remember being in the fourth week of the semester and having evolution and natural selection just click in my head. I had always had a decent understanding of these concepts, but it just never really clicked in any of my science classes until now. A part of me felt stupid for it taking 4+ years to get to this point but another part of me was proud of myself for getting to where I am.

If I go back to my original post, I don’t think I would change anything about my definition of evolution just yet. I am expecting that to change by the end of the semester. But, I feel like my definition was broad enough to allow what I have learned thus far to fall under the original definition. My understanding hasn’t really changed. I have just come to the conclusion that I don’t know everything about evolution yet.

I am struggling more so with R exercises than the concepts we are learning in class. It’s very irritating because it’s not something I have ever done before and may not ever do again in my academic career. I just have to learn to be patient with the exercises and myself and know that it’s okay to ask for help.

I am curious about COVID-19 and what makes these strains of the coronavirus any different than what we have seen before. Why is it that some bodies have a difficult time identifying this virus as dangerous and not reacting quick enough to fight back? I want to learn more about how evolution affects everyday life that I would have an easy time relating to as a college student studying science. It’s hard to understand concepts if you don’t have anything to relate them to in your life.

Inbreeding

 

Blog Post Module 6: Reflection Prompt

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Inbreeding

 

Inbreeding is a common phenomenon in natural populations. This phenomenon occurs when two closely related organisms mate with each other, producing offspring. Inbreeding can change the distribution of genetic variation among the populations of plants and animals. Though we have information on how inbreeding can affect evolution and can identify the costs and benefits in the populations of plants and animals, we still don’t know everything about the forces shaping the evolution of nonrandom mating in general.

Inbreeding can lead to the evolution of assertive mating. Assortative mating is simply a mating pattern where similar phenotypes are mated with another more often than what is generally expected with random mating. With inbreeding within a population, we would see an increase in the ability for the parent to potentially pass on favored traits to their offspring and therefore we eventually will see a fixing of those favored or desired traits. We would also see an increase in uniformity to a species. In terms of evolution, inbreeding could increase the rate of evolutionary change. It can also increase the rate that natural selection can eliminate unfavorable deleterious alleles from a population. On top of all this, we could expect to see a higher fitness that can theoretically allow the organism to survive and mate with more success than other organisms.

Some costs of inbreeding can be seen in natural populations of animals and plants as well as humans. With inbreeding, we can see an increase in undesirable genes and a reduction in the diversity of the genes. An example of inbreeding in Europe that is well-known concerns, royal families. It’s been a centuries-long practice to marry within the royal family in Europe. The many marriages between first cousins led to a high rate of hemophilia among the members of the family. Another example would be the many, many health issues King Charles II of Spain. In animals, we see evidence of inbreeding in feral sheep on a small island off the coast of Scotland. Inbreeding can cause lower fertility rates and lower “vigor” in organisms. We can see fewer offspring and higher offspring mortality. Overall, inbreeding can cause birth defects, both physical and non-physical defects.