Evolution

The last few weeks have been focused on evolution and genetics. We started all of this with Tiktalik, then we worked on our Paleo Projects. Since completing our Paleo Project, we have continued to address these topics.

We read Chapter 8 of Survival of the Fittest, in which we learned about progeria, and how it is caused by a defect in Lamin A, causing cells to deteriorate faster. We learned about how cancer can spread throughout the body with the use of telomerases, and how there is the Hayflick limit, which limits the number of times that a cell can split. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the telomeres, so cancer can grow without limit. We also learned about biological obsolesce, and how humans are like iPods, the defected ones dies and the rest improve.

We leaned about Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection. We saw examples of how species evolved differently to better survive their specific environment, such as the finches who developed different sized beaks that reflected the food that they ate. We also learned about convergent evolution, which is the development of similar traits bases solely on the fact that species live in similar environments, and selective breeding, in which humans can breed a stronger and better animal, or a better tasting plant, ect. I also learned about speciation, in which two groups of the same species separate and evolve separately.

Evolution

Convergent Evolution