Mechanisms of Cellular Development in Maya Pines' Learning from the Worm
Maya Pines' Learning from the Worm is highly informative and well written. In short, the article confronts the mystery behind the mechanisms that operates during cellular development. Scientists were divided over the type of mechanism that is used to determine a cell's fate, whether the cell would develop into a nerve, muscle, sex, or somatic cells. Two theories surfaced: if whether a cell's fate is intrinsic or cell-interactive. Some scientists refer to these two theories as European or American plan of development. The European plan of development pertains to the idea that a cell's fate is determined by their ancestry whereas the American plan of development, a cell's fate is determined by outside environment and position.
The little round worm known as C. elegans was used as a basis for the experiments. This was an excellent choice because not only did the worm have a short life span, reaching sexual maturity in 3 days, but also because the worm is a hermaphrodite. The fact that the worm was a hermaphrodite proved to be an incredible advantage. The worm was able to self fertilize; making it possible for mutants that would otherwise die out without breeding to propagate. Also, the worm was transparent which allowed the scientists to view the developments of each individual cell and the role that they play. Thousands of these tiny worms can fit into a petri dish where they can be viewed for recombinations and mutations.
An English scientist, John Sulston studied the C. Elegans, using a light microscope equipped with Nomarski contrast optics to trace the worm's cells as the animal developed, tracing the history of every cell. Although thi...
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...ells are programmed to die by the genes. This is necessary, otherwise, organs that are inappropriate may develop. Still, scientists return to the same question that was posed of before, what possible mechanisms control these processes, whether it be cell death or the development of various tissues.
In the final paragraph, Horvitz states "But evolution is a tinkler….It takes what already exists and adds to it…". I think it's an interesting statement and it holds a lot of truth to it as well. Our bodies, as complex as it may be, still retains much of the apparatuses that can be found in other organisms preceeding us and even in the organisms of today. The worm in this case was used as a sort of map into our own mechanisms and through future studies, scientists will be able to finally discover the incredible enigma behind a development of a cell.
In the book, Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin he presents the notion of evolution and how we can trace parts that make up the human body back to jellyfish, worms, and even fish. The book not only discusses how we arose to be what we are today, but also the implications our ancestors had on our current body plan. In this essay, I will demonstrate that I have digested the entirety of Shubin’s book by convincing you (dear reader) that everything in our bodies is based on simple changes to already existing systems. To make this case, I will use the evidence of limb development in a vast array of organisms, the four arches found in the embryological stage of development, the structures inside our noses, and how our ears have come about all due to modifications.
samples. In our experiment we learned the how to replicate tiny samples of DNA into usable
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas consists of short, insightful essays that offer the reader a different perspective on the world and on ourselves.
3 Leicht B. G., McAllister B.F. 2014. Foundations of Biology 1411, 2nd edition. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press. Pp 137, 163-168, 177-180,
How are experiments done without the use of guinea pigs to help us learn and understand what is being studied? Everyday lab animals, such as mice, are used in experiments as guinea pigs because they provide similar reactions in comparison to the human body. Thus, mush knowledge of science is gained through guinea pigs. However, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic stories "Rappaccini’s Daughter" and "The Birthmark" rather use humans to test their scientific studies. The stories show two families of science-based backrounds caught between a passion for success in their scientific studies and love between a father and a daughter and a husband and a wife. Throughout the stories the scientist feel they are coming closer to success in their experiments, but in reality success is lost to tragedy in the end.
In 1859, a biologist named Charles Darwin postulated a scientific theory, which stated that all living organisms evolved through a process of natural selection. According to Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin claimed that the offspring of a particular species gradually evolved themselves genetically to resist the changes in the environment (573). The theory contended that the organisms could adapt to the changes in the environment through the survival of the fittest. Though this theory is regarded as a breakthrough in the field of biological evolution, it is interesting to explore how this seemingly scientific theory has been suitably modified, and intellectually applied to both negative and positive aspects of life.
Lewis Thomas, in his book The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, criticizes how society exists within a paradoxical
8. Becker W. M, Hardin J, Kleinsmith L.J an Bertoni G (2010) Becker’s World of the Cell, 8th edition, San Francisco, Pearson Education Inc- Accessed 23/11/2013.
Every individual has a biological influence on their development; two individuals combine their genetic information to create a new organism, carrying biological predispositions that will shape their expressed behaviors and characteristics. However, Susan Griffin, author of the essay “Our Secret,” argues that while genetic influences are significant, they are not the sole contributors to an individual’s development. Throughout her essay, Griffin reveals to her readers that the presence of external, uncontrollable factors from an individual’s environment can be equally influential as they diverge the individual off of the predetermined path of life created by biological factors.
Throughout the years, apoptosis has been thoroughly studied and investigated by millions of scientists around the world. Throughout people’s knowledge of cells, the cell cycle, mitosis and meiosis, and viruses, there are still questions that we ask. These questions can range from why doesn’t a human continue to grow when we produce millions of cells, what happens to cells that fail the mitosis and meiosis checkpoints, and what happens to the cells that are infected by viruses. The answer to these common and educational questions is all in the process known as apoptosis. Apoptosis is the death of cells that occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism's growth or development. The common questions that people ask about the cell process
One can almost feel the searing penetration of Lewis Thomas’ analytical eye as it descends the narrow barrel of the microscope and explodes onto a scene of vigorous, animated, interactive little cells—cells inescapably engrossed in relaying messages to one another with every bump and bounce; with every brush of the elbow, lick of the stamp, and click of the mouse…
He realized that snake embryos had bumps where there should be legs. Which mean they probably evolved from a creature with legs. He noticed that whale embryos had teeth, but adult whales did not have teeth. The most shocking of his embryotic studies involved human embryos. He noted that the human embryos as slits around the neck, the same in fish. The difference is that in fish the develop into gills, and in human the become the bones of the inner ear. This showed that humans must be descended from fish. This led him to the conclusion that all species were somehow connected. He theorized that beginning with a common ancestor, species had changed dramatically over generations. Some species may add new body features, or lose them. He called this descent with
The eye is an extremely diverse organ, ranging in complexity across and within animal phyla. Here, a comparative approach is taken to outlining the diversity of the eye forms within vertebrates and invertebrates. The eye morphology of a variety of organisms was examined. Eye function, and placement on the body was also considered. Here, variation in eye form is discussed in relation to the environment the organism is adapted to. It is shown that an organisms eye morphology functions optimally for the ecological niche it occupies. Evolutionary analysis is used to account for the emergence of the different eyes. Convergent evolution is used to justify the similarities in eye types seen in organisms of different species. This analysis begins with the simplest of eye forms composes of single cells, present in the zooplankton larvae. Such primitive forms are identified in mollucs, annelids, cnidarians, and are then compared to more advanced eye forms contain lenses. This comparative approach provides a breadth of examples of vertebrates and invertebrates, making visible, the diversity of eye morphology within the animal kingdom.
Our advancements in science have enabled us to create other things that we can test on, instead of harming innocent animals. Since experiments are cruel and expensive, “the world’s most forward-thinking scientists have moved on to develop and use methods for studying
“Animals were used in early studies to discover how blood circulates through the body, the effect of anesthesia, and the relationship between bacteria and disease” (AMA 59). Experiments such as these seem to be outdated and actually are by today’s means, scientists now commonly study for three general purposes: (1) biomedical and behavioral research, (2) education, (3) drug and product testing (AMA 60). These three types of experiments allow scientists to gain vast amounts of knowledge about human beings.... ... middle of paper ... ...& Co.