Genetics (Heredity): Harvesting Stem Cells

Nick Lucic

Period 9

The Basic Principles of Genetics

• Traits are mostly controlled by dominant alleles then recessive allele because a dominant trait is more likely to show up than a recessive trait.

• Traits are controlled by co-dominant alleles when a trait is neither dominant nor recessive. So both of the traits will be expressed in the phenotype. One day you might wake up with dimples and the next day, they will be gone.

• The alleles of two parents combine to express them in an offspring by randomly inheriting a trait from each parent.

Human Genome Project

• The Human Genome project started in the 1990s and the goals were to identify all the genes in the human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer related technologies to the private sector, and address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. .

• Some ethical, legal, and social implications to the Human Genome Project is mainly worrying about access to someone’s personal genetic information.

• The Human Genome Project changed current laws because they were letting out personal genetic information and people were getting discriminated because of that so the made a law and it is called GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ),

Genetic Disorders

• The 3 different types of genetic disorders are single gene disorders, chromosome abnormalities, and multifactorial disorders. Single gene disorders are caused by mutations that disrupt the DNA sequence in a single gene, chromosome abnormalities happen when you have one more or one less of the right number of chromosomes, and multifactorial disorders happen of a combination of environmental factors and mutations in multiple genes. Also, single gene disorders and multifactorial disorders can develop over time while you have to born with chromosome abnormalities. It is sort of like genetic engineering but you aren’t changing the genes on pourpose.

Genetic Disorders Continued

• Genetic counseling is for people who are concerned about passing on a genetic disorder to their future child. So what they do is that they will map out a pedigree( which is like a family tree) for you to see all your family’s relationships to see if one of them as a genetic disorder. But if parents aren’t concerned about that, they just care if the baby will have the right number of chromosomes, then they will map out a karyotype for you to see if the baby will have the correct number of chromosomes.

Genetic Disorders Continued Part 2

• Karyotypes are only used to predict one genetic disorder. And that is Down Syndrome. With a karyotype, you can see if the baby will have the right number of chromosomes. This is important because one more or one less chromosomes can screw it up.

Argument 1

• Scientists in Massachusetts and Japan are for stem cells because they have created embryonic stem cells by cloning them and the embryo didn’t get destroyed. Also, these scientists are for stem cells because they believe that stem cells are the future for solving many diseases.

Argument 2

• Me myself, I am for stem cells. I am for stem cells because I also think that using stem cells can be the future for curing diseases just like the scientists from Massachusetts and Japan. Also if someone loses a lot of brain cells, in the future they could create a stem cell that could form into brain cells.

Argument 3

• One group of people that are against stem cell research are anti-abortion groups. They believe life starts when the sperm hits the egg. So they believe that destroying an embryo is like killing another human being. Anti-abortion groups also dislike stem cells because sometimes people use an abortion to get to the embryo.

Argument 4

• Another group of people that dislike stem cell research are religious groups. Most notably, the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is against stem cell research because he involves in the destruction of human embryos. Pope John Paul II quotes “Stem cell research is related to abortion, euthanasia, and attacks on innocent life.”

Conclusion

• During the project and whole unit, I learned a lot about genetics. From Ms. Martinez teaching us. To doing research on the computer. I became aware of stuff that I knew about but I never knew that it had to do with genetics. This wasn’t my favorite project, but I pulled through.

Here are some Pictures

Here are some more Pictures

Here are some more Pictures

Works Cited

• Primary-http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,31748,00.html

• Primary- http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml

• Primary-http://www.uselections.com/issues/stem-cell-research.shtml

Works Cited Continued

• Secondary-http://www.researchamerica.org/stemcell_issue?gclid=CLDllJnH5acCFcx-5Qodk0EzTg

• Secondary-http://www.americancatholic.org/news/stemcell/