Better Then Revenge- Cellular Respiration Song

This week we had to create a project on cellular respiration. My partner and I, decided to take a song and change the lyrics to create an awesome song about cellular respiration. After trying out a few songs we decided that we would use Better Then Revenge by Taylor Swift from her Speak Now album. We sat for an hour and a half, through our double bio class, and created this new song. Actually completing the task was much harder to do then we thought. We hope you enjoy our song, we had a ton of fun writing it.

The Krebs Cycle

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Glycolysis SketchFu

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Tuataras: The Living Fossil

The Tuatara: The Living Fossil on Prezi

U.N. reports Decrease In New HIV Infections.

Fewer people are being infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, then at the epidemics peak, but progress is still halting and fragile. 2.6 million people were infected in 2009, 20 percent fewer then in the late 1990's. Although about 25 countries are doing better at prevention, including a few in south africa, (high in aids rates) the progress is still spotty.

South Africa, home of the worlds worst AIDS epidemic, benefited from the change in president from Thabo Mbeki, hostile in distribution of AIDS drugs, to Jacob Zuma, who publicly took an AIDS test, urging citizens to do the same. Although south africa still faces 350,000 to 500,000 infections per year, there has been much improved progress to give mother drugs to prevent infection of babies trough breaks milk. Acording to Michael Saibe, executive director of UNaids, there has been a 50% reduction of young deaths in south africa. Some reasons for this are: parents and children are discussing sexuality more, and people are sleeping around less. When 57 countries were surveyed, only 25% said that they had had more then one partner in the last year.

Despite progress being made, some countries, mostly in Western Europe and Central Asia, are becoming worse, where the epidemic on concentrated in heroin- injectors and their sexual partners. The more the heroin spreads the more addictions there are and therefore, resulting in more HIV infections.

There is good and bad news on the treatment front. 5.2 million people are getting antiretroviral drugs, more then there has ever been before; however 10 million people still need immediate treatment. It has been 3o years since the start of the AIDS epidemic and about 33.4 million people are living with HIV. A comparison shows how much progress needs to be done before we can say the world is winning the war on aids: for every 100 people put on treatment, 250 become newly infected. Now it is about 200 become newly infected. It is a small improvement, but an improvement none the less.

Link to Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/africa/24infect.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Osmoregulation in Marine Reptiles

Marine Reptiles consist of animals like crocodiles, sea turtles, marine iguanas, marine snakes. Marine Reptiles have inherited or retained the osmotic concentration of bodily fluids of about 300-350 mOsm (milliosmole), therefore they are hyporegulators.

Marine Reptiles differ from fish or amphibians because they only use their lungs. Lungs don't come in contact with water so they have developed a respiratory epithelium. The epithelium is thin and highly permeable to gasses. The skin is thick and reduces permeability to water. Nonetheless, no epithelial is entirely impermeable to water and marine reptiles still lose some water through their integument to the seawater. Thinner epithelia covering the mouth, nasal passages, and eyes are sites of osmotic water loss.

Despite the relative impermeability of skin, reptiles still face a substantial osmotic load. If they feed on fish, they have food source with an osmotic concentration isosmotic to their own blood. It is likely that they will ingest at least small quantities of seawater with he fish as the capture and eat them.  Other food sources in the sea are osmoconformers and eating them is equivalent to drinking salt water. This poses problems for crocodiles, feeding on crabs, turtles, feeding on jellyfish, and marine iguanas, feeding on algae.

Marine Reptiles maintain osmotic homeostasis by excreting a hyperosmotic, sodium chloride-rich fluid from their bodies in the surrounding waters. This is carried out by a epithelia in the head region. Crocodiles have glands in the tongue that can secrete hyperosmotic fluid. In sea turtles, it is carried out by the lacrimal (tear) glands surrounding the eye. In marine iguanas, nasal glands are the site of active salt transport. The situation with marine snakes is a bit more uncertain.

Hairspray to Cell Community

Clostridium Tetani

Clostridium Tetani is a rod shaped bacteria that is found as spores in soil or as parasites in animals. C. Tetani produces biological a biological toxin called tetanospasmin, which causes tetanus. Tetanus is a disease characterized by muscle spasms tetanospasmin, which can lead to respiratory failure and, 40% of the time, death.

Characteristics:
C. Tetani bacteria are rod shaped and look like mini tennis rackets. During their growth process, they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen and are heat-sensitive. As they mature, the bacteria develops ad terminal spore which gives them their characteristic appearance. Their spores are extremely hardy and resistant to heat and most anesthetics. The spores can be found in manure treated soils, human skin, and contaminated heroin.

Toxicity: 
C. Tetani enters through a wound in the skin and then multiplies. Once infected it produces two exotoxins: tetanolysin and tetanospasmin. The tetospasmin is distributed in the blood and lymphatic system. It acts at several sites with in the nervous system: the peripheral nerve terminals, spinal cord, brain, sympathetic nervous system. Then it attaches to gangliosides at the presyneptic junctions of inibitoty more nerve endings. The clinical manifestations are caused when tetanus blocks the inabitory implies, which interferes with the neurotransmitters. This leads to muscle contraction and spasm. Characteristic features are risus sardonicus (rigid smile), trismus (lock-jaw), opisthotonus ( rigid arched back). Seizures may also occur. Because of this, the autonomic nervous system may also be effected.

Types of Tetanus: 
Generalized Tetanus is the most common type of tetanus (80%). The first signs of generalized tetanus are risus sardonics and trismus. Then comes the stiffness of neck, difficulty in swallowing and regidity of pectoral and calf muscles.
Neonatal Tetanus if a form of Generalized Tetanus that occurs in newborns. It accounts for 14% of all neonatal deaths. Infants with out acquired passive immunity because their mothers have never been immunized are at risk. The infants are usually infected though the umbilical stump.
Local Tetanus is very uncommon and is more mild then Generalized Tetanus and only 1% who are infected die. It occurs in contractions of muscles around the area of the injury.
Cephalic Tetanus is a rare form of the disease that occasionally occurs with ear infections. C. Tetani becomes present in the flora, middle of the ear, following injuries to the head.

Image sources:/
www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/519944432_858d235bef_m_d.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.microbiologybytes.com/blog/2007/07/20/the-surface-layer-protein-of-clostridium-tetani/&usg=__ispMGGzzsAPI9uBmD75-


www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://phil.cdc.gov/PHIL_Images/20041014/19f02a819c8f4352804bc5abbdd820c0/6374_lores.jpg&imgrefurl=http://prep4md.blogspot.com/2008/08/medically-important-bacteria-images.html&usg


Sources: 
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/unrein_bren/


http://student.ccbcmd.edu/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/prostruct/diseases/ctetani/ctetani.html


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/submenus/sub_tetanus.htm 

Macromolecules Lab

This week, we conducted a lab testing for four different macromolecules like starch, protein, lipids, and glucose. Each pair was given a food (apple, onion, lemon, egg white, egg yolk, potato, strawberry) and they were to test which of the macromolecules was in each of them. We tested for most of the compounds by mixing them with things like biuret solution and Lugol's iodine solution and see if they changed the right color; however, to test for lipids and glucose was a bit more complicated. To test for lipids you had to take your food and rub it on a piece of brown rapping paper and let dry. To test for proteins you had to mix Benedict's solution with the food and then place it in a hot water bath. If it changed a bright orange color then it contained glucose.

My partner and I were given apples. We predicted that apples would have protein, glucose, and starch. You can see in the picture to the right that when we tested for each compound we found that it did not contain proteins.

I really enjoyed this lab. I can't speak for the other students but I know I don't normally look at the nutritional facts of the side of the box, so it was really interesting to see what was in foods that we eat on a regular basis. For instance, I would have never known an egg white contains sugar. Or that a lemon doesn't contain any of the four groups that we tested it for. For our first lab I think it was very enjoyable and interesting. It wasn't very complicated and we were working with very familiar substances which also made the lab more enjoyable. Over all I really liked that lab and I thought it was very interesting. 

Nucleic Acids

Properties of Water

Water is one of the most important substances on the planet. Not only does it cover 2/3 of the earths surface, but we also use it to clean, drink, and make electricity. Most importantly water makes up 65% of our bodies making it absolutely impossible for us to live with out. There are many properties that differentiate water from other substances.



Polarity
Polarity means that the molecule has a slightly negative and positively charged end. Because water is polar it means that it can dissolve other polar molecules like sugar and ionic compounds like salt. Because the water molecules have a slightly negative and positive side the negative end of on molecule will attached to the positive side of another molecule create hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are a relatively week bond but they are the reason for adhesion and cohesion.


Adhesion/Cohesion
water is both adhesive and cohesive. Adhesion is how water is sticks to other things. A great example of this is called capillary action. When you place a straw in a glass of water the water climbs up the straw. This shows adhesion and how water sticks to other substances. The opposite of adhesion is cohesion. Cohesion is when water sticks to itself. An example of this is when you see beads or droplets of water. The water likes to stick to itself as oppose to spreading out.


Surface Tension
Surface tension is the tightness across the surface of water that is caused by the polar molecules pulling on one another. If an item is light enough and doesn't beak the surface of the water it will float on top of the water. This is how bugs can sometimes walk on top of water.


Specific Heat
Specific heat is a a characteristic property that determines the amount of heat needed to increase the temperature of a substances one degree Celsius. Water has a very high specific heat. This is why when your at the beach on a very hot day the sand feels very hot but the water stays cool. The sand has a lower specific heat which allows it to heat up quicker while the water remains the same temperature.


Amphotermism:
Water is amphoteric, which means that it can act as either an acid or a base in chemical reactions. According to the Bronsted-Lowry definition, an acid is defined as a species which donates a proton in a reaction, and a base as one which receives a proton. When reacting with a stronger acid, water acts as a base; when reacting with a stronger base, it acts as an acid.


Density/Lattice Formation of Ice:

Water is unlike any other substance because its solid form is less dense then its liquid form. When water is a liquid it is always breaking and creating new hydrogen bonds, so the molecules sit very close together and make the liquid very dense. As the liquid cools down and freezes the molecules don't move around as much making the bonds much more stable. When the liquid freezes the water molecules create lattice formations which are farther apart then how the molecules sit as a liquid make ice less dense than liquid water. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4auXUSY9c54 <- Click here to watch a youtube video on the properties of water. 

Self Reflection

This year I am excited to learn about the study of life. Science has always been one of my favorite subjects and I'm sure this year will be the same. I hope that by the end of year I will have a better understanding of the organisms around me. I want to learn all about cells and DNA. Biology has always interested me and I am excited to learn more about the subject. New technology will help this year. Our blogs will allow my class mates and I share our work and help us understand the material. Also with new information being found everyday the internet allows us access to new information. I am thrilled to be in Honors Biology and excited for all we will learn this year.