PIG DISSECTION

Woot woot!  It's the time that we've all been waiting for... dissection!
Smelled like the rat from last year, but the pig is just a little bit bigger.  Which means all the parts are more defined.
So, my group opened up our pig and we went for the bottom of the pig first:

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

(That's right, those are the testes.)

The rest of the pig, there wasn't enough time to take out the brain.  And I was really looking forward to that... It might not have been possible anyways, since when my group was cracking the skull, we broke a bit of the membrane that covers the brain (the body is full of them, membranes, I mean.  Looks like it holds everything together) and TOFU (gag alert) ended up gushing out every time we poke the other parts of the brain.

Being the good leecher that I am, here are the isolated body parts done by others:

(huge collection of brains. wonder where they went in the end? preservative jar?)

Kidneys, intestines, bladder (which is connected to the umbilical cord. Now I finally understand how a fetus' wastes can be filtered by the mother) and even tongue (last year's Lunar New Year's feast xD)!  Eyeballs as well.  The stomach had some "crystals" in it, which was really interesting since I thought that they didn't eat at all.  Other than a body surviving on its own, a fetal body is just as interesting and more.

The Cove - Video Questions

2. Shown in this film, dolphin slaughtering is taking place in Taiji, Japan.

8. Fishermen trap the dolphins in the cove by creating noise underwater, taking advantage of dolphins' sensitive hearing by confusing them with the loud noises.  The dolphins are driven to the shore of the cove this way.

19. In response to the Deputy of Fisheries claims, one of the crew members had to deputy listen to a sound recording of the dolphins being slaughtered with their prolonging cries.
"If it was killed any other way, is it cruel?" (- when the deputy claimed that the dolphins were killed humanely)

21. When they first saw the cove, the two divers who were part of the crew saw dolphins swimming over nets, trying to escape towards the two at shore.  Sadly, the dolphin never made it as it died with blood trailing behind it in the water.

23. Going to Marineland, in a way, contributes to the dolphin slaughtering because most likely, the dolphins might have come from Taiji to be trained or anywhere else where dolphins are being trapped.  If they are not selected to live in a life of captivity, they will be killed.  By watching the dolphins at Marineland, we are giving them money to tell them that it's okay for them to trap dolphins away from their natural habitats.  With this money, we are simply fueling the industry that does this to dolphins.  It then becomes an indication to the industry to continue with what they are doing because there is a economical gain to be made from this.  This will keep the industry running until we stop watching dolphins and other animals do tricks in captivity.

Sea Kraits, Yellow Goatfish and White Trevally

The Sea Kraits

Sea kraits:

• genus: Laticauda
• species: colubrina
• highly venomous, but rarely bites
• up to 120 cm long
• alternating blue/yellow and black stripes
• return to land to mate
• lay eggs
• need to drink fresh water

Yellow goatfish:

• genus: Mulloidichthys
• species: martinicus
• "whiskers" from chin to search for food through sediments
• up to 39 cm long
• hunts in schools in the day, alone at night

White trevally:

• genus: Pseudocaranx
• species: dentex
• up to 1 m long
• yellow fins
• used in sushi

Sharkwater

What comes in mind when one hears the word "shark"?  For me, it would signal the beginning of the Jaws theme song.  You know, that low toned two-note repeats over and over again.  And then, in the danger of the music, I find myself thinking of the shark from the movie "Finding Nemo".  "Fish are friends, not food."  I think that is exactly what sharks are like.  If you don't bother them, they won't harm you in any way.  In fact, they are very misunderstood creatures.
During the documentary film "Sharkwater" that we watched in class (but I sadly missed out on), there was a black and white film teaching viewers how to protect themselves against shark attacks.  Although the PSA (if I may call it that) dealt with a serious matter.  I cannot help but laugh at their suggestions.  The advise that stood out most for me was to beat the water and make noise.  That got me thinking: "Wouldn't that just attract unnecessary attention?"  You began floating in the middle of the ocean peacefully and then you make yourself an easy target.  Why can we not treat sharks as any other fish?  Beautiful, graceful and harmless until you agitate it.
As for the matter of the shark fins ban.  I am glad they had enforced it.  Sharks do not deserve to be killed just for their fins, which is only 4% of their body weight.  Nothing should ever be killed unless there is a use for it and unless it is known that the impact would not be great.

Cellular Respiration Activity

Analysis:

1.  Proceeding through each trial, my strength decreased.
2. By the end of my trials, my fingers felt numb and my wrist had hurt for a period of time.
3. Warming up my hand and fingers might cause me to get more squeezes.
4. My non-dominant hand had less squeezes.  This might be because I don't use my left hand as much over my right and therefore it lacks strength.
5. There was energy spent by the muscles squeezing the clothespin.  During rest, the energy used will be replenished.

1.3 An Intro to Metabolism & 1.4 Enzymes

energy = ability to do work

catabolic reactions: breakdown of complex substances (ex)

anabolic reactions: synthesis of complex substances from smaller units (end)

metabolism = catabolic + anabolic

Potential energy is stored energy; Kinetic energy is used

work = transfer of energy

First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can neither by created or destroyed, but converted

Energy is absorbed when bonds break

Energy is released when bonds are formed

entropy = measure of randomness/disorder ∆S ∝ disorder

free energy = energy that can do useful work

∆S ∝ 1/free energy

Second Law of Thermodynamics/Law of Entropy: disorder of the universe increases with any change

dead cell = when all its reversible reactions have reached equilibrium (blood/buffer?)

phosphorylation = attaching phosphate group to an organic molecule (synthesis of ADP + Pᵢ --> ATP)

OIL = oxidation is losing

RIG = reduction is gaining

enzymes = protein catalysts

lowers activation energy

substrate = substance catalyzed by an enzyme

active site = location where the substrate binds to

substrate + active site = enzyme-substrate complex

cofactors: Zn²⁺; Mn²⁺

coenzymes: NAD⁺ NADP⁺

competitive inhibitors = similar to substrate; blocks substrates to bind to active site

noncompetitive inhibitors = attaches to another site on enzyme --> changes shape of active sites

allosteric sites = receptor sites to inhibit/promote an enzyme's activity

activator = promotes (stabilizes active form)

allosteric inhibitor = inhibits (stabilizes inactive form)

feedback inhibition = substances catalyzed later on can be used as inhibitors

Biotech Test

That's right!  Here's another one...

Vector Cloning:

1. Isolate gene of interest
2. Cut using restriction enzymes (2 cut sites)
3. Take plasmid from bacteria
4. Cut using the SAME restriction enzymes (1 cut site)
5. Put gene of interest into plasmid using the sticky ends, glued together by ligase
6. RECOMBINANT DNA/ TRANSFORMATION
7. Culture
8. "Infect"

How to isolate the gene of interest: gel electrophoresis

Fragments get cut at various lengths.  Moves from NEGATIVE --> POSITIVE

Complete digestion: all fragments cut at restriction site

Incomplete digestion: all possible fragments are cut

VECTOR CLONING EXPRESSES THE GENE

Agarose Gel Electrophoresis Video

PCR WILL NOT

Polymerase Chain Reaction:

1. Denature DNA, break hydrogen bonds
2. DNA primers, dNTPs & Taq polymerase
3. Repeat

Replication is EXPONENTIAL after the THIRD CYCLE

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism

R -restriction enzymes

F- complete digestion

L -PCR

P- patterns (comparison)

DNA Sequencing (Sanger Method)

1. Denature DNA, break hydrogen bonds
2. DNA primers, dNTPs, ddNTPs & Taq polymerase
3. ddNTPs stop replication
4. PCR
5. Complementary sequence read from bottom to top

http://www.dnalc.org/resources/animations/sangerseq.html