Anthers and stigmas and styles, oh my

Like humans and animals, plants too have genders and female and male parts. There is a stamen, anthers, styles, and stigmas. Certain parts are fertilized through the transportation of pollen from organ to organ. Pollen from the anther is transferred to the stigma, and then leads to the ovaries of the plant. When the ovules are fertilized, they develop into new seeds and grow new plants.

This is a picture of anthers surrounding the stigma. In a supposed "perfect flower," there are both male and female reproductive anatomy. Here the anthers and stigma are part of a single flower. However, in some species the female and male anatomy are separated.

Here we have a stamen, a male reproductive organ of a flower. On this organ, there is a stem coming up from the base with an anther on the end. This part of it produces and releases grains that contain sperm cells.

  

This is the female organ of the flower, the carpel. It is a stem, the style, with a sticky piece, the stigma, on the end that pollen rains stick to.

Who Wants to Live a Million Years?

1) I won the game the first time I tried. I picked the traits that I thought would help the species survive.
2) I selected the stripes, long legs, furry bodies, and skinny bodies when did the game. I knew that when the species breeder, the genes I selected would mix and help the species adapt to their environment.
3) The species was small. Genetic drift probably affected them to inherit certain traits. (ex: fur, striped skin)
4) it was hard to tell, but most of the species had striped skin, furry bodies, and longer legs.
5) a: cold- short, heavier weight, long fur, dark color
    b: hot- short fur, light color, smaller build
    c: predator- stripes, dark color, long legs
    d: new food- long legs, long neck

Who Wants to Live a Million Years: A Natural Selection Simulation Game

1. It took me two generations to win the game, I think it only took two rounds because after the first time I understood what qualities the animals needed to survive. I think this suggests that real species have to learn what tactics they need in order to better their chances of long-term survival.
2. On the first round, I made the animals mostly small with little fur. I chose these phenotypes because I thought if there was a heat wave they would survive because they wouldn't be overly heated, and if there was an ice age they wouldn't be completely bald. I also chose short legs because they could hide. The amount of fur seemed to work, but I had to adjust the height so that they could better survive. For most of the games this combination worked.  
4. Yes, I think they would be affected by genetic drift. 
5. The tall height seemed to be dominant because whenever that alleles was chosen they would all be tall rather than just a few of them. The short fur seemed to be recessive. In cold conditions the animals needed longer fur and to keep them warm. When the weather got really hot they got rid of their fur so they didn't over heat and die. Adaptations such as spots, stripes, and long legs helped when there was a large predator. The different markings helped them to hide and blend in with their surroundings, and being taller helped them to run faster. Long legs also helped when the food grew super tall because with this adaptation they were able to reach the top of the plants to eat.
6. I think a good improvement to simulate natural selection more realistically would be to have multiple changes at once, for example a new predator and a weather change. In the game they do one change for a course of years, in reality there are many changes all the time.  Another improvement could be to have an option for the animals to migrate. And lastly, including humans effects could improve the game because humans often alter animals natural environment. This feature could help people understand the effects of this and how much animals have to adapt to their environment being changed.

A Matter of Selection - Grace Euerle

        Our plants have grown a lot since we last visited them in the garden. They are much bigger, and all of the Brassica Oleracea plants have been showing homogeneous traits. Their leaves are almost the same color, and are big and broad. Some plants have thick purple stems, while others have green or yellowish stems. Their leaves differ in shape, though. Some are thick, some are thinner. 

A Matter of Selection

Our plants have grown since the last time we saw them. Like many of the plants in the garden, they look fully grown and have traits that set them apart from the other types of Brassica Oleracea. The most differences I saw in the garden involved the shapes of the broad leaves. Some were more ridged about the edges, some had bumps that looked like little air pockets, some had leaves that were softer around the edges, etc. The most similar trait of the Brassica Oleracea was the color of the plants. The leaves were all a dull dark green color and the stems of most of the plants are purple. All of the plants in the garden have grown from similar looking seeds to plants of variety with many forms. Like any living organism, these plants and their genes have changed over the years to adapt to their environment and co existing species. People have also performed artificial selection and mutations on plants in order for the plants' traits to meet their needs. For example, there is selective breeding among plants, which is a process in which people breed different plants for specific traits. Both natural selection, which is  the process of organisms naturally gaining more traits that are more fit for the environment they live in, and artificial selection are connected to decent with modification; the descendants of the original plant have modifications made to them but are still basically the same plant. These processes helps organisms survive in their environment for much longer than they would have originally.  The plants' most similar trait, anatomy wise, is the stem. It is cylindrical with smaller stems sprouting from it and leading to the veins of the leaves. Plants have similar traits because they all come from one ancient organism, and from there they have mutated to fit their individual environment, but many still have the same basic structure or at least a few of the same traits. People can also breed different plants by using controlled pollination to get desired traits.

GATTACA Essay - Grace Euerle

Gattaca Essay - Genetic Engineering

In the film GATTACA, people are able to genetically alter their children so that they can be successful and not life ‘invalid’ lives. Those who were not genetically advanced, were called invalids and were looked down upon in society. One of the main characters, Vincent, was conceived out of love and was not genetically altered. For his brother, however, his parents chose his traits so he was genetically advanced, and his parents favored his brother more. It would be nice to give my child an advantage in life by choosing successful traits, but there are some reasons why I would not want to genetically alter my child.

First of all, I would want my future son or daughter to have the best and easiest life possible. I would want them to be successful and not have to be subjugated because of their genes, but it seems unnatural to choose what traits they inherit. What if genetic engineering messes up and they inherit mental or physical disabilities instead?

Genetic Engineering has some benefits, though. It gives humans a head start. Parents can choose what their children look like, prevent them from inheriting genetic diseases, and parents can choose if they want their child to be athletic or artistic. Despite all of these advantages, we cannot control how children grow mentally. In the movie, Jerome had all of these great genetic traits and was a star athlete, but was depressed. There was so much pressure to be perfect because he was created perfect. He started drinking and smoking, and tried to kill himself. Genetically altering our children can cause them to crumble under the pressure of trying to act perfect because they were genetically perfect.

In conclusion, I do not think I would genetically engineer my child. It is not natural, and I do not believe that we should be able to mess with our genes. There is already enough prejudice in this world with different races, religions, and beliefs. Creating a whole new race with genetically altered humans would make it even worse.     

GATTACA: Selected Traits vs. Conceiving Naturally

In the futuristic world of GATTACA, people can genetically enhance their child so they can live a life of greatness and be a “valid” member of the working society. For example, after Vincent- who was conceived of love- was born and had many flaws, his parents decided to have another child, which they chose traits for. There are reasons as to why or why not one would want to select certain traits for their child. I personally am not exactly sure if I would want to or not.

On one hand, I would want more than anything for my child to be happy and achieve their goals. I want them to grow up in an environment where they could succeed in anything they put their mind to and have a greater chance of success. However, selected traits, like intelligence and athleticism may not be the direct path to greatness. For example, Jerome was a god like figure; he was one of the most qualified  people to be in GATTACA. But although he had all of these amazing talents and qualifications, he lacked spirit, and this lead to depression and drinking; so a great outcome is not guaranteed, but there is a good chance that people will get the results they were hoping for. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to get ahead if it means there is the probability of a brilliant outcome?

In contrary, the main reasons I wouldn’t want to genetically modify my child is because I would feel like it is less of me than it would’ve been and i believe that, like Vincent, they could achieve success without selected genes. In GATTACA, the doctor for Vincent’s parents asks them if they would like to modify their child and reassures them that the child is still a combination of them, simply the best version. This is slightly more comforting, but as a person who believes that everything happens for a reason, I feel like that would be messing with fate. Vincent is born with many flaws and was an invalid, however, he manages to do better than most people who do have modifications. One who has to work harder to reach success and ends up achieving their goals will feel much more accomplished than those whose lives have been made easier. They will feel like they’ve earned it and know that they have potential to do great things even without a boost.

I believe that everything unfolds as it should in the end, so no matter what someone chooses to do it will all end up okay. People can choose to select their child’s genes, and that’s okay. They will most likely end up reaching their goals and happiness because they have advantages, and they are a combination of the best versions of their parents. If people choose to let their child have a natural birth, that’s okay too. They can reach success as well. possibly not as easy as one with special genes, but that’s something that makes it worth it. Either way, greatness depends on spirit, dedication, and  and the effort one is willing to put in to everything they do to reach their dreams.