DNA daze: Updated

Today, we reviewed the different types of evidence that supports the idea if evolution. Then we received and went over a new standard sheet for unit 2. Then we were given two options on worksheets to work on, I chose the one about strands of DNA. In this worksheet, we had to compare the DNA strands of a gorilla, chimpanzee, human, and a common ancestor. To do this we recreated the DNA strands using colored beads and a pipe cleaner.

Then we compared each strand by counting the similar and different bases in the strands. 

Than we use our data to create a tree chart that shows the relationships between the four different strands.

This worksheet also made us think about other ways scientists Crete these diagrams. Such as: bone structure and the way they adapted to their surroundings.

There are a few ways these mutations can happen:

		Substitution A substitution is a mutation that exchanges one base for another (i.e., a change in a single "chemical letter" such as switching an A to a G). Such a substitution could: change a codon to one that encodes a different amino acid and cause a small change in the protein produced. For example, sickle cell anemia is caused by a substitution in the beta-hemoglobin gene, which alters a single amino acid in the protein produced. change a codon to one that encodes the same amino acid and causes no change in the protein produced. These are called silent mutations. change an amino-acid-coding codon to a single "stop" codon and cause an incomplete protein. This can have serious effects since the incomplete protein probably won't function.
		Insertion Insertions are mutations in which extra base pairs are inserted into a new place in the DNA.
		Deletion Deletions are mutations in which a section of DNA is lost, or deleted.
		Frameshift Since protein-coding DNA is divided into codons three bases long, insertions and deletions can alter a gene so that its message is no longer correctly parsed. These changes are called frameshifts. For example, consider the sentence, "The fat cat sat." Each word represents a codon. If we delete the first letter and parse the sentence in the same way, it doesn't make sense. In frameshifts, a similar error occurs at the DNA level, causing the codons to be parsed incorrectly. This usually generates truncated proteins that are as useless as "hef atc ats at" is uninformative. There are other types of mutations as well, but this short list should give you an idea of the possibilities.

 Info from: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/mutations_03

Some mutations can occur that may not effect the body. However, if a deadly virus causes a mutation by inserting its own DNA into the your body cells, then your whole immune system may go haywire. The immune system is in charge of protecting humans fro these deadly viruses by releasing hormones a using receptors in the outsides of the cell.