Factual knowledge
- Please describe, briefly, one new piece of factual knowledge that you acquired or developed so far in the course.
One piece of factual knowledge that I have learned so far in the course is the terminology for the four basic models of enhancer and gene interaction. These models are looping, tracking, facilitated tracking, and linking.
- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this piece of factual knowledge, and provide some evidence for it.
Previously I had only heard about (or remember hearing about) the looping model for enhancer/gene interaction. I now understand the tracking is when the proteins travel along the DNA strand to the gene without staying connected to the enhancer, facilitated tracking is the same as tracking except the proteins stay bound to the enhancer sequence and a loop is formed, and linking is when there are changes to the chromatin between the enhancer and the gene.
Conceptual knowledge
- Please describe, briefly, one new piece of conceptual knowledge that you acquired or developed so far in the course.
Some conceptual knowledge that I have developed so far in the course is the idea that enhancers and silencers are essentially the same thing. These regulatory elements are classified by the affect they have on transcription levels, but the affect is determined by what protein bind to the sequence. If the protein that bind repress transcription, then the sequence is known as a silencer, and if the protein that binds increase transcription, then the sequence is known as an enhancer.
- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this piece of conceptual knowledge, and provide some evidence for it.
Previously I believed that enhancers and silencers were classified by the sequences that they have that allow transcription factor binding. I knew that the same transcription factor could repress or enhance a gene depending on cell type/gene/other factors, but I did not connect these to ideas until now.
Skills
- Please describe, briefly, one skill that you acquired or developed/are developing so far in the course.
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- Please describe how you know that you have acquired or developed this skill, and provide some evidence for it.
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Great job on your first LJ! I like how for your evidence you compare what you thought/knew before and what you think/know now (there are many kinds of evidence that you can use, this is one of them and it seems to work well for you). I also like how you explicitly describe the connection that you made between two things that you knew. Well done; your score is on Connect.