Mutation

Chromosomes, or strings of genes carrying genetic information, are vital to the existence of living things. A specimen cannot have more or less than how many that particular species needs. In humans, this number is 23. The 23rd pair of chromosomes, referred to as Group X, contain the sex cells that decide the gender of the organism. If a Y chromosome is present, the organism is male, and if not, it is a female. If the chromosomes fail to separate correctly during meiosis (type of cell division…

What did cancer look like in the mid 1800’s http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/002048-pdf.pdf In 1838 german pathologist Johannes Muller showed cancer is made up of cells rather than lymph. Muller showed that cancer cells developed from budding elements (blastema) between normal tissues Rudolph Virchow suggested that cells including cancer cells are derived from other cells. He bliebed that cancer spread like liquid in the 1860s german surgeon karl theirch showed that…

1. Polycystic kidney disease: Polycystic kidney diseases (PKD) are a group of developmental renal disorders that are characterized by progressive fluid accumulation in dilated renal tubules to form cysts, generating kidney enlargement, numerous large cysts compromise the function of the remaining normal tubules and eventually lead to renal failure as well as various external manifestations. It is associated with several genetic and non-genetic disorders, but the most common causes of…

The use of technology has increased and due to technology it has become possible for researchers to test for diseases and maybe even cure them more often than before. Breast and Ovarian cancers are caused by inherited changes in genes such as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. Genetic testing should be used to inform people of their being at high risk for cancer because knowing if someone has cancer can benefit the person in the long run. A person who is told that they have breast or ovarian cancer can…

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) include a heterogeneous group of neoplasms that can arise from various neuroendocrine cells in many organs and tissues in the body. These tumors are characterized by their ability to produce peptides that lead to different endocrine syndromes. Many patients have nonspecific symptoms and can easily be confused. It is not unusual for patients to suffer for a long time before NETs are diagnosed, and almost 50% of all patients with NETs have regional or distant…

The question I chose for my Student Inquiry Project is “Could Spider Silk Be Used To Create Military Grade Body Armour”. This is due to the fact that prior to SIP beginning I had been reading up on the strengths and potential uses of spider silk. Once I had decided that I wanted my question to revolve around spider silk, I began further research on the uses of spider silk and found that it varied from medical uses such as artificial skin and bandages to commercial uses such as airbags in cars.…

Drosophila melanogaster are often used as a model organism in laboratories due to the many advantages that the organism provides: short generation time, sexual dimorphisms, cost effectiveness and easiness to maintain, amongst others. The generation time of Drosophila is around 9 – 11 days, and phenotypes in men, such as sex combs, heavily pigmented abdomen, and shape of abdomen and size, makes of Drosophila melanogaster an effective organism to study. In Drosophila melanogaster, the males do…

Lactase persistence is the result of a gene mutation and therefore considered the mutant allele while non-persistent is the wild-type allele. However, the LCT gene itself is not mutated. The single base pair mutation (a change from a “C” to a “T”) occurs in an intron of a neighboring gene that lies 13,910 nucleotides upstream, which alters the process in which the LCT gene is turned…

over-expressed the gene. The results concluded that HOXB7 does indeed have a cancer cell invasion quality when mutated. By being able to pinpoint one of the genes leading to this particular cancer, scientists can better understand where and why this mutation…

One in every 15,000 to 40,000 children have the disease known as achondroplasia. Achondroplasia is a genetic disease that occurs because of a mutation in the gene FGFR3 and is also the most common form of dwarfism known. The purpose of the gene FGFR3 is to make the proteins that are vital in the formation of bone tissue within the body. Because of this mutation people with achondroplasia have significantly shorter limbs than the normal person making them significantly shorter than most people…