Understanding the biological concepts of science.

The past four years being a Biology major has been an educational journey. Starting at the beginning, we as freshman are taught the major principles of biology, such as all living things are made of cells, evolution, homeostasis, and inheritance.

All things are made of cells, as we have been taught since we first we taught biology. In the beginning biology class, Biology 120, we are first taught this concept. Evolution is also one of those concepts that is drilled in our brains, often learning about it when comparing species to a common ancestor. We were taught how to do this by looking at, and creating, phylogenetic trees.

In this same class, we had to adjust a plants environment to disrupt their homeostasis, and see the consequences. My lab partners and I decided to adjust the amount of light exposure that this specific plant obtained to determine how the plant would grow. We had three different groups: plants that were exposed to no light, 12 hours of light and darkness, and 24 hours of light. By disrupting the amount of light the plant obtained, this caused the plant to change it’s ‘normal’ homeostasis to adjust to the new environment that it had. At the end of this project, we presented it in presentation form, and the presentation is located below this reflection.

To show inheritance, there was a project that was performed in my genetics class, or Biology 324. In this class, my lab partners and I worked with Drosophila cells and knocked out a gene in order to see what would happen. After the gene was knocked out, we grew the cells and did some tests on them. This is an example of inheritance because as the cells grow, they are inheriting the DNA that doesn’t have this specific gene. It is also a good example of inheritance because it helps to teach us what would happen when a specific section of DNA isn’t apparent anymore and what consequences come from that. Below is a poster that describes this experiment more in depth.

Now that the information about the foundation of biology has been learned, it can be used to better understand other subjects in medical school. Understanding the basic biology is what helps researchers to further help the human species to live longer and cure diseases, which is what I hope to help with in the future.

Below are some examples of projects that were completed to address the biological concepts of science:

The Effects of Light Exposure on Brassica rapa

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EyTJKmt7C8ROWblmyRcJSLLMSdWMs2e_ScDtbeJrNJE/edit?usp=sharing

Knocking Out WFS1 in Drosophila melanogastor S2 Cells

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cbm5gRrr_w-2HBv2p1SFhjP0gwRVg-ORUunqP0TbAWM/edit?usp=sharing