Monthly Archives: April 2013

ID -1 Evolution -0

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For my first assignment I investigated what is being taught in high schools when it comes to the sciences. What I found was jaw- dropping. Evolution is constantly being taken out of the school systems! Why- is the most ridiculous part. For one America has no national curriculum or requirements for thesciences therefore local school boards control what is being taught in the classroom.  Not only does it depend on
the state but even down to the community level. Multiple sources reported that
these community pressures place stress on teachers who try to teach evolution,
leading them to de-emphasize, downplay or ignore the topic altogether.  Evolution is what helps us understand life’s history, one cannot ignore it but some states do. In US only 14% of Americans think evolution is true compared to the 80% of people in European countries due to America’s view of religion, politics and public understanding. The US takes the Bible (Book of Genesis) in its more literal sense unlike European countries (Owen, 2006).  The problem also falls onto the teachers, because they will teach their personal beliefs more so than what the state requirements are (Arnhart, 2012). A requirement posed throughout the literature was teachers wanting to teach at any level should take an evolution class to help open American’s minds up and also giving them confidence to do so.  Evolution has been scientifically proven and can be backed up with evidence. Therefore, if something cannot be proven it has no place in the sciences.  The law of gravity is also a theory but you don’t see people jumping off buildings, so why not accept evolution? The proof is in the pudding. 

Immune systems are SEXY…

Immune systems are SEXY...

Who knew we use scent based cues to pick out partners who could give us healthy offspring? According to a study from University of Lausanne in Switzerland, researchers found women are attracted to men with dissimilar immune systems due to MHC genes (major histocompatibility complex). These genes help the immune system recogzine pathogens. The most interesting part however is what evolutionary biologist Martha McClintock from the University of Chicago found. From her study, she concluded women were not attracted to men having no similarity in their MHC’s or too dissimilar. This is said to prevent mating pairs of too similar complexes. Therefore selection is looking out for you to help prouce healthy, disease resistant offspring unless women are on the pill.. these women actually prefer MHC’s closer to themselves which causes a biological error.

A Window Into the Future of Cancer Monitoring

A Window Into the Future of Cancer Monitoring

Researchers were able to look at circulating tumor DNA to monitor metastatic breast cancer. Even though this was only done on a small number of patients it opens up a new avenue of possibilites when it comes to cancer. This knowledge could aid in different treatment methods by drastically reducing the cost and burden of finding a tumor. The most important and really cool reason of why it is so important, is we would be able to see changes in the genomic tumors profile! Maybe this will allow us to better understand the mechanisms of tumors, like what causes resistance and more.