Cloning in Focus

1. Who is Dolly?
In the context of genetics, Dolly is a cloned sheep, as well as the first mammal to be cloned.  Dolly was cloned in Great Britain.
2. When a zygote divides into to separate cells, it is called Artificial Embryo Twinning.
3. Somatic cells are also called: adult cells.
4. In order to clone a gene, a gene is inserted into a strand of DNA, usually a plasmid.
5. In order to create an embryo from a somatic cell, the donor egg cell must have its nucleus removed.


Click and Clone
6. List all the materials needed to clone a mouse.

• DNA from the mouse to be cloned
• A surrogate mother mouse
• Sharp pipette
• Blunt pipette
• A chemical to stimulate cell division
• Petri dishes
• Microscope

7. Place the following steps in the correct order.

a) Isolate all of the donor cells

b) Remove and discard the nucleus from the egg cell

c) Transfer the somatic cell nucleus into the egg cell

d) Stimulate cell division

e) Implant embryo into a surrogate mother

f) Deliver baby

8. There are two time gaps in the process of cloning. What are they? (ie. what do you have to wait for?)  It takes time for the DNA to be reprogrammed and for the chemical to stimulate cell division.


9. What color with (sic) the cloned mouse be? Brown. What is the name of this mouse? Mimi.
Why Clone?
10. Why is cloning extinct animals problematic? Locating the DNA of an extinct species is very difficult.
11. What are some reasons a person might want to clone a human? To allow infertile couples to have "children" and to replace deceased children (although the latter seems awfully questionable).
The Clone Zone
12. What animal was cloned in 1885? The sea urchin.
13. How did Spemann separate the two cells of the embryo of a salamander in 1902? The embryo was split with a baby's hair.
14. The process of removing a nucleus is called enucleation.
15. In 1952, the nucleus of a frog embryo cell was placed into a donor cell. Did it work to clone the animal? No.
16. Can the nucleus of an adult cell be injected into an egg cell and produce a clone? Yes.
17. Why are mammals hard to clone? Their DNA is complex, and their development is largely based on their environment.
18. What were the names of the first two cloned cows? Fusion and Copy.
19. In what year was the National Bioethics Advisory Council formed? 1995
20. The first mammal clone to be produced from an adult (somatic) cell? (sic) Dolly.
21. What do scientists do to adult cells to make them "behave" like embryos?  The electric shock technique simulates fertilization by sperm, causing the cell to divide.
22. Transgenic, cloned sheep were used to produce what medical protein? Factor IX
23. What is a stem cell? An undifferentiated cell whose daughter cells may differentiate into other types of cells.
Cloning Myths
24. Briefly describe in your own words, (sic) why CC the cat was not identical in color to Rainbow, even though she was a clone?
Very early in her development, each of Rainbow's cells "turned off" one entire X chromosome - thus turning off either the black color gene or the orange one.  In short, the genes are identical, but they are expressed differently.


25. What is "nature vs nurture"?
Nature vs. nurture is the supposed conflict between genetics and parenting: a continuing and stagnant argument over whether or not parenting has a significant influence on the child.


Is it Cloning or Not?
26. For each of the following scenarios, indicate YES (it is cloning) or NO (it is not cloning)
(NO)Sperm taken from a mole goat is combined with a female's egg in a petri dish. The resulting embryo is implanted into the female's uterus to develop
(YES)A sheep embryo, composed of 16 cells, is removed from the mother's uterus and separated into individual cells. Each cell is allowed to multiply, creating 16 separate embryos, which are then implanted in different female sheep to develop to maturity.
(NO)A cow with many desirable traits is stimulated with hormones to produce a number of egg cells. Each of these eggs is fertilized and implanted into a surrogate mother. 
(NO) In vitro fertilization
(YES) Cell nuclei from an extinct wolly mammoth are placed into enucleated cow cells.


27. Define or describe each of the following processes (you may need to reset the Cloning or Not Screen)
In vitro fertilization
Fertilization of an embryo by sperm cells within a test tube.
Embryo splitting
An embryo splitting evenly, causing the development of two identical organisms.
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
Creating a clonal embryo using an ovum with a donor nucleus.
Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer
A process to produce multiple copies of an animal.
Artificial Insemination
Sperm is placed into a female reproductive track in an attempt to cause fertilization.
What Are the Risks of Cloning?
28. What is one reason why cloning animals has such a high failure rate?
Pregnancy frequently fails.


29. What is a telomere and how does it affect cloned animals?
A telomere is "junk DNA" at the beginning and end of each chromosome.


30. Pick one of the questions to ponder and ....ponder it. Write a brief essay on your thoughts and opinions.


If a clone originates from an existing person, who is the parent?


The term "parent" is a pretty meaningless when applied to artificially produced organisms.  After referring to a number of different dictionaries, there appears to be two definitions of "parent": the more common one is "the person who raises a child," which seems pretty self explanatory.  The second definition is "one of the two organisms from whom one is immediately biologically descended," but in this case there would only be one person: the organism which is cloned is, by definition, a clone of itself.  Obviously refutable paradoxes in the English language are such fun!


In other words, there are two different kinds of parents: biological and social.  Biological parents are the entities from which an organism descends.  Most organisms only have biological parents; they are not raised, and learn to survive on their own (i.e. spawning salmon).  Social parents are organisms which raise a child (not necessarily their own, but usually).  Some species reproduce asexually, which is, by definition, cloning.  Obvious examples of asexual reproduction are amoebas and pea plants.

Epigenetics

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The questions were asked about this website: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/

IDENTICAL TWINS: PINPOINTING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON THE
EPIGENOME

1. Often, the physical characteristics of genetically identical twins become increasingly
different as they age, even at the molecular level. Explain why this is so. (use the
terms "environment" and "epigenome")
If the genome is the basis for what shapes a person, then the environment is responsible for changes in a person as s/he ages.  Epigenetics, if one was to generalize, is the study of how these changes actually work on a physical or chemical level.

2. Name 3-4 environmental factors that influence the epigenome.
Exposure to specific chemicals (in most research pertaining specifically to epigenetics, these chemicals are artificial, but not always), the release of chemicals within the body as triggered by the environment (the fight or flight response works as an example), and...

3. What is an imprinted gene?
An imprinted gene keeps its epigenetic tags after early development.

YOUR ENVIRONMENT, YOUR EPIGENOME

1. Discuss factors in your daily life (ie. Diet, exercise, stress etc.) that could be affecting
your epigenome.
Arbitrarily applying a very new and experimental science, whose workings are not yet well understood, to one's life would, in all probability, lead to academically useless, completely unscientific and invalid observations.  For instance, there is no known link between arthritis and the genome, so is arthritis epigenetic?  This website assumes that it is, but that statement is impossible to prove.  If I were to break a bone and experience aching in that area for years on, is it epigenetic?  I'd like to say no, but that statement also is too broad to prove.

LICK YOUR RATS

1. Explain how a high-nurturing mother rat shapes her pup's epigenome, and what that
pup's response to stress will be.
Methyl groups, which act as the epigenome, silence the GR receptor gene at birth.  Nurturing from mothers causes brain impulses in the child to gradually remove these methyl groups, and allows the child to release more GR protein.  The GR protein helps to reduce stress, so nurtured offspring will be calmer.

2. In rats, does licking by the mother activate, or deactivate her pup's GR gene?
Nurturing activates the GR gene.

3. Explain how cortisol and the GR protein work together in the brain to relax a rat pup.
You may draw a diagram.
Cortisol is a chemical released during the fight or flight response that can result in stress; the GR protein binds with this chemical to send calming signals, effectively counteracting the cortisol.

4. The rat nurturing example shows us how parental behavior can shape the behavior of
their offspring on a biochemical level. Relate this to humans and think about the personal
and social implications. Record your thoughts.
The repercussions are pretty implicit: that nurture can have an impact in an organism.  Although if questionable studies from an experimental science are necessary for parents to care about the wellbeing of their children, then they're probably not capable of being decent parents anyway.

NUTRITION & THE EPIGENOME

1. Explain how the food we eat affects gene expression.
To be laconic: nutrition is responsible for producing methyl groups, which are believed to be responsible for handling epigenetics.

2. Can the diets of parents affect their offspring's epigenome?
Yes, it's very well accepted in the traditional sciences that diet during pregnancy can influence the development of the fetus.  Of course, the connection is a bit more complex than that, and it would be a very transparent lie to say we fully understand how it works.  For instance, if a child is starved somewhat while still young, his grandchildren will end up living longer lives.  It will take time before anyone can pretend to understand the science.

Mitosis Worksheet

1. Which stage does the following occur

Chromatin condenses into chromosomes.	Prophase
Chromosomes align in center of cell.	Metaphase
Longest part of the cell cycle.	Interphase
Nuclear envelope breaks down.	Prometaphase
Cell is cleaved into two new daughter cells.	Cytokinesis
Daughter chromosomes arrive at the poles.	Telophase

2. 


How many chromosomes are visible at the beginning of mitosis? Eight.

How many are in each daughter cell at the end of mitosis? Eight.

The little green T shaped things on the cell are: centrioles.

What happens to the centrioles during mitosis? The centrioles divide.

3. Identify the stages of these cells.

 

              Metaphase                                    Telophase                                  Prophase

4. Describe stages of mitosis according to the animation.

Prophase  The chromosomes condense. The nucleus dissipates. Centrioles migrate to opposite sides of the cell.

Metaphase  Spindle fibers attach to chromosomes. Chromosomes align on the metaphase plate.

Telophase  The nuclear envelope reforms. The chromosomes disperse. The spindle fibers dissolve, and the cell is pinched in two by actin protein.

5. Record data in the chart below.

	Interphase	Prophase	Metaphase	Anaphase	Telophase	Total
Number of cells	20	10	3	2	1	36
Percent of cells (calculate: number of cells divided by total cells x 100 )	55	27	8	5	2	100 %

6. For each organism, identify the stage of mitosis.

	View 1	View 2	View 3	View 4	View 5
Whitefish	Telophase	Metaphase	Prophase	Anaphase	N/A
Onion	Anaphase	Metaphase	Interphase	Interphase	Telophase

Yes, I know the formatting is horrible.  I blame blogger.

Guppy Simulation

1. If being flashy and colorful attracts predators, why do you think guppies are so colorful?
Most likely to attract females; no other explanation is really plausible.

2. The fish's common name is guppy or millions fish.  Its scientific name is poecilia reticulata.  Average size is 3.5 cm.

3. The predator's common name is pike cichlid, its scientific name is crenicichla alta, and originates from Trinidad and Latin America.

4. Predator populations would be heavily influenced by how deep and accessible whatever part of the stream it is.

5. John Endler was an evolutionary biologist who studied wild guppy populations in Trinidad.

6.
Pool 1: Brightly multicolored with large spots.
Pool 2: Medium coloration on body and tail, with medium-sized spots.
Pool 3: Drab coloration, very small spots concentrated near tail.

7. If there are more predators in one area of the stream, then there will be less brightly colored guppies.

8. If the fish are brighter, they're much more likely to be targeted by predators.

9. Yes, in areas with less predators the brightest guppies take over the population.  In areas with more predators, only the drabber fish survive.  This goes with the hypothesis.

10. Two factors influence the characteristics of a guppy population: the predators, and the mates (natural and sexual selection).  Saying that male guppies are caught in the crossfire more or less means this; they need to find a safe median between attracting mates and avoiding predators.

11. Guppies have different coloration in different areas of the stream based on predator population.  They adapt to be drabber/brighter when predators are more/less.

12. The guppies would not attract mates because they have so little coloration, but would not be preyed upon.  If there are brighter guppies in the area, they would win out over time.

13. The brighter guppies would be preyed upon and would die off due to the high amount of predators, because their coloration would be more visible to predators.  Unfortune.
         

	% of Brightest Guppies (10 generations)	% of Bright Guppies (10 generations)	% of Drab Guppies (10 generations)	% of DrabbestGuppies (10 generations)
Trial 1 Guppy: Even Mix Predators: 30 Rivulus	70%	21%	6%	2%
Trial 2 Guppy: Even Mix Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara	14%	86%	0%	0%
Trial 3 Guppy: Even Mix Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara, 30 Cichlid	0%	3%	2%	95%
Trial 4 Guppy: Mostly Bright Predators: 30 Rivulus	88%	9%	1%	3%
Trial 5 Guppy: Mostly Drab Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara, 30 Cichlid	0%	2%	6%	93%

Preservation of Biodiversity

Biodiversity: this is the sort of thing that people can accept on faith as a moral issue (more in the sense that it's the right thing to do than just "oh don't kill the polar bears and baby seals nooooo").  Looking at it as a practical issue, though, ignoring anything morally questionable about it, I'm actually a bit less convinced after researching it than I was before.  Don't get me wrong, biodiversity something worth preserving, but we haven't really put together a very compelling argument against saving it from, well, us.

• One common argument for preserving biodiversity is that there is potentially a great deal of medicines and other, similar benefits from species not yet studied, and if they went extinct we would lose that benefit forever.  This begs the question, though, why should we bother preserving biodiversity once we've identified and safeguarded the species' of value to us?  Once scientists have meticulously studied and gone through every plant and animal on the planet, this argument no longer holds much validity.
• One less common argument is that biodiversity can act as a safeguard against natural disasters: but usually when this is brought up it only refers to forestation and similar, which seems more like an argument against deforestation than anything, and that is different than biodiversity.  For example, why not just select the kind of tree best suited to defending the area and leave the others vulnerable to logging and natural hazards?
• As far as food sources go, with the progress of genetic engineering to create species more useful as food sources, we could preserve the backbone of a diverse diet while allowing other species to phase out at their leisure.  Sounds pretty cruel, but again, just an objective view.
• Finally, there's the obvious fact that people appreciate the aesthetics of biodiversity, but that's a pretty superficial cause to spend millions of dollars to preserve, and one that probably wouldn't drum up enough interest to, for example, save the rain forest (heh).

Yeah, I don't know.  I haven't seen any other major arguments than these, and it raises questions...

I don't have the prompt handy, but I'm pretty sure this addresses it well enough.  This is also pretty excessive for a post, so I guess I should cut it off here.  Bye for now.