Informal Journal 3

I see all of this data on Hox genes and I am always shocked this can’t be simply placed, along with other relevant information, into a program and sorted for the most probabilistic mechanisms for influencing expression of segmentation genes. It seems I have illusions of the advancements in deductive programs; though phylogenetic do come to mind for programs that relatively instantly yield complex relational results. I believe, with the massive influx of information and lack of interpretation in the field of biology and genetics, that experience with computer programming and associated programs like MATLAB will a great boon when looking for research careers.

INFORMAL JOURNAL 4

I realize this is a little unrelated, it’s just related to the Hox gene defects we looked at in class. I think about this quite often and wonder if I would be able to cull mice or other mammals by the tens and not feel significant remorse. I can rationalize animal experimentation for the sake of humanity, but, having never had to kill anything greater than a nematode, I have no personal perspective on this experience. I think I would be content with the sacrifice, but I do love animals and it makes me wonder how I could arbitrarily impose personal attachment onto some and not others.

Informal Journal 5

I wonder if eating royal jelly has any serious effects on human gene expression! While it is a comical concept to imagine effeminate and royal qualities suddenly imposed upon unsuspecting suckers, I sadly realize it would be something likely much smaller and difficult to quantify. I also doubt we have the same susceptibility to a given signal cascade when we are so evolutionarily/genetically distant from bees. We probably wouldn’t even receptors specific to HAD, let alone the downstream effects (I surmise). Too bad!

LJ6

I can’t help but imagine the epigenetic effects my parents have subjected me to. I wonder if those party nights were what me who I am! With all of those potato famine/ holocaust studies on epigenetic effects in pregnant/stressed/starved women, it makes me wonder if there needs to be an extreme for these effects to take place to any degree. Expanding on this query: I wonder if only major events influence stress-related epigenetic influence, or if smaller events play an equal proportional role to epigenetic modification. By this I mean, if an argument causes 5% of the stress that a potato famine causes, does the degree epigenetic modification correlate to exactly 5% of the modification that occurs in potato famine subjects? I have no clue and sound difficult to test.

How the heck do I read scientific papers as though they were Harry Potter novels? I don’t. I find the process very tedious to understand these papers. It took me a long time to under to understand the different components of figure 4 in the paper. I remember feeling confident about the content of this paper and then coming to class and being asked about ‘why certain expression patterns were monitored instead of others’. I didn’t know. I was glad this was addressed, but I still felt discontent that I didn’t know.

There is so much background knowledge required for a full appreciation of results in these papers. I realize that’s what my degree is for, but I still have a difficult time fully interpreting results when difficult questions are posed. Ultimately I’m happy I know all the supportive work that went into determining the 2 necessary factors for axis formation.

Knowing is great,learning is tough.

This is a bit of a rant, hahaha.

Why am I so handsome is the question I (and probably everyone around me) have decided to address. But, alas, the answer to such a question is beyond mortal grasp.

I was wondering about why insulator regions can have 2 functions and not be designated as different components. Perhaps this is just because both roles have effects that could be loosely described as insulatory. Are there instances where both of the functions result from a single segment? And if so how would it perform functions when they are both so very different. Also, I realize they would have to perform the functions at separate times, but still, I don’t immediately realize how both could be achieved without a complex mechanism.