The Making of The Fittest: Chapter 1
1/ Messenger RNA (mRNA) determines the sequence of amino acids in protein. At first, DNA is decoded. After that, each sequence of bases on one of the chains of DNA molecule is transcribed into a sequence of mRNA, and then translated into the amino acids that build the protein as a combination of a triplet.
2/ The sequence of DNA that encodes a protein are amino acids.
3/ The process that produces RNA by reading DNA is the DNA transcription process.
4/ The process that produces protein by reading RNA is the translation process.
5/ There are possibly about 64 triplets for amino acids.
6/ There are about 20 amino acids in a protein chain.
7/ Icefish lack of red-blood cells so that icefish is set apart from all other
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11/ The temperature of water where the fish live makes the ancestors of icefish different from the modern icefish. The modern icefish lives in cold water while the ancestors of icefish lived in warm water.
12/ Icefish lose red blood cells that produce hemoglobin to adapt to the low temperature of Antarctic water. As a result, their blood only have white blood cells and ice water in their veins. This adaptation allow icefish have nearly the same body temperature as the temperature of Antarctic water.
13/ Icefish have relatively large gills and scaleless skin with unusually large capillaries. Both features in icefish’s anatomy allow them to absorb oxygen from the ocean since Antarctic water is exceptionally rich of oxygen. Moreover, icefish’s heart is large but pale since myoglobin cannot substitute the hemoglobin that is lost in icefish’s blood. The large heart provides sufficient oxygen for icefish to breath and to their body tissues. These are the reason why icefish can live in Antarctic while other fishes without these features
Oxygen breathing lungs are a universal trait of class reptilia. As such, it would have been necessary for the Plesiosauroid - a marine reptile, to return to the ocean surface to inhale air. Oxygen expenditure in reptiles is proportional to strenuosity of locomotion (Frappell, Schultz & Christian, 2002). Therefore the Plesiosauroid must have held physiological traits that enabled the species to avoid oxygen deficit while hunting deep-sea dwelling prey. This essay will outline the hypothesised respiratory, circulatory, pulmonary and sensory attributes of the Plesiosauroid as they relate to diving. These hypotheses will be supported by investigating the physiological adaptations of the Plesiosaur’s biological analogues, and the prospect of similar adaptations in the former will be speculated upon.
The primary structure is the sequence of amino acids that make up a polypeptide chain. 20 different amino acids are found in proteins. The exact order of the amino acids in a specific protein is the primary sequence for that protein. [IMAGE] [IMAGE]Protein secondary structure refers to regular, repeated patterns of folding of the protein backbone. The two most common folding patterns are the alpha helix and the beta sheet.
Icefish are among the few fish families that thrive in the oxygen-rich cold waters surrounding Antarctica. They have evolved a set of unique adaptations that enable them to survive in an environment that would be deadly to other fish. Several of these adaptations are associated with major health problems in humans. Can icefish help
The wasting syndrome is a disease that is killing off the starfishes, “researchers in Washington State first noticed signs of the so called ‘“wasting syndrome”’ in June 2013 during routine monitoring of [the] populations”(Scudellari, 2014, pg. 44-45). The wasting syndrome is where the starfish’s body is first drained of all its water (they have water instead of blood). Then, after it is drained of its water then the arms of the star start curl up and detach from the rocks. After that “white lesions appear, like festering canker sores” (Scudellari, 2014, pg. 44-45) and the major organs keeping the starfish alive explode and all the arms fall off, and the starfish dissolves into a gooey blob. This
This is a large jump from both the cold water group (85) and the room temperature control group (95.2). As water temperature increases, the amount of oxygen the water contains decreases. This causes the goldfish to breathe faster in order to get enough oxygen to survive. In addition, the increase in the temperature also increased the metabolic activity of the goldfish. Since their metabolic activity increased, they were metabolizing at a much faster pace than the other groups, which makes their need for oxygen much stronger. The respiration rate for this group was likely so high because the water was too hot for them. This is a probable scenario because our research said that goldfish can thrive in a wide range of temperatures from 10 to 20 degrees C, and all of the hot water trials were above 20 degrees. The cold water, on the other hand, tested temperatures from 12 to 20 (the control/room temperature) degrees
Acanthaster planci, commonly known as the crown-of-thorns starfish, is an echinoderm that has attracted much attention and has been the focus of much research over the past few decades. Although the starfish has interesting physic...
Cod fish is stored in chilled or frozen condition on the board after catching as bleeding and gutting to keep the freshness of the fish (Oliveira et al., 2012). The deterioration of the fish starts after catching. Before frozen fish entered the processing unit, the fish need to be thawed first.
Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins, which are complex molecules containing elements such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Amino acids linked by peptide bonds create polypeptides. When there are many polypeptides linked together in a chain, and it is folded to fit a particular function, it creates a protein. However if it was not folded into a certain shape, it would not become a protein, rather just a Polypeptide.
There is a two step process involved in order for the genes to be used. The first half of this process is called transcription. DNA is made up of four nucleotides: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thiamin. These nucleotides are in pairs in the DNA and their order is very important because it dictates how the gene will be expressed. During transcription RNA, a similar molecule to DNA, comes in and makes the compliment copy of the DNA sequence. The second half of this process is called translation. During translation the RNA is used to make amino acids, which are then used to make a protein. Not all of the RNA is used to make the amino acids, only the sections which are between the start and stop signals. Then sets of three nucleotides called codons are used to make specific amino acids. Different sets of amino acids code for different proteins.
Cold water is the key aspect in the phenomenon called the mammalian diving reflex. This reflex has been beneficially used for thousands of years by whales, dolphins, seals and other mammals that inhabit the frigid waters of the world. The diving reflex slows heart rate and causes peripheral vasoconstriction to keep blood and oxygen to the brain and other vital core organs. This reflex allows these mammals to conserve oxygen and stay submerged over longer periods of time, providing them more time for finding food, protection and travel.
Schaefer, Larry. "Dolphin Web Site."Http://understanddolphins.tripod.com/dolphins.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. This image displays homeostasis because dolphins are abel to thermo-regulate, the ability to control body tempature. One of the ways dolphins thermo-regulate is during dives, the outer portion of a dolphins body reduces blood circulation and consentrates blood circulation into the core organs and tissue. This pevents heat being released into the enviorment because the heat is being transfered from one blood vessel to the other. Some other ways dolphins body's thermo-regulate is bluber insulation, also dorsal fins and flukes release heat. Mainting a homeostais body tempature is so signifigant because without thermo-regulation
The loss of water to the external environment is a problem that all marine fish must deal with. This is because the water contains a higher concentration of solutes (salt) than the fish does (hyperosmotic to the internal environment). This results in an osmotic gradient in which water is lost from the fish to the environment and ions are gained by diffusion. And so the marine fish must continuously drink water to keep hydrated, while the ions are actively regulated by specialised glands via excretion. This is the case with Harlequin tuskfish, which need to constantly drink water and excrete ions to maintain a stable internal environment. The Harlequin tuskfish, like all marine fish has gills that excrete salt, and a reduced, inefficient (in
Ribonucleic acid or RNA is a polymeric molecule made up of one or more nucleotides. A polymeric molecule is a very large molecule that is chain- like. It is made up of monomers, which are smaller molecules. A strand of RNA can be thought of as a chain with a nucleotide at each chain link. Whereas, a nucleotide is a group of any type of molecules that are linked together because they form the “building blocks” of DNA (also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, and it is the carrier of genetic information.) Messenger RNA, which is called mRNA, carries the genetic information copied from DNA. Transfer RNA, which is called tRNA is the key to deciphering the code words in mRNA that forms a series of three-base code words. An enzyme is a substance that
... phytoplankton to fish, the sea ice is an integral part of the Arctic marine ecosystem” (Derocher, 2014).
Mechanisms involved with metabolism, blood flow, and oxygen storage capabilities had to evolve to accommodate diving lifestyles (Costa, 2007). One mechanism is the diving reflex of marine mammals (Heller, Orians, Purves, and Sadava, 1998). This is a highly developed automatic reflex that slows the heart rate of an animal when it submerges underwater (Heller et al., 1998). Humans have a diving reflex that is triggered when a person’s face is immersed in water (Heller et al., 1998). Human’s heart rate automatically slows as soon as a person’s face is completely submerged (Heller et al., 1998). At the end of the dive, heart rate returns at an above-normal rate to flush out the lactate from the muscles back into circulation (Withers, 1992). The period of increased oxygen consumption after a dive is proportional to the amount of oxygen “debt” an animal is after a dive (Withers, 2009). When a marine mammal dives, the majority of the blood flow and available oxygen goes to the animal’s heart and brain (Heller et al., 1998). Scientists have observed that although the heart structure of cetaceans and pinnipeds are very similar to other mammals, one major difference are the enlarged stores of glycogen present in their hearts not found in terrestrial mammals (Berta et al., 2006). Larger stores of