Blog #12: Gregor Mendel and His Plant Experiments

In Gregor Mendel's Pea Plant experiments, the P1 look the same because they were created by combining two types of genes. F2 look different because they are a cross of F1 and F2 offspring.

Blog #11: Customizable Babies?

In the movie Gattaca, parents were able to pick the traits of their babies. I personally think that this should not be aloud. Mainly because it's just not right. But also there is also the possibility of a higher level of disappointment if the baby was to come out differently than the parents would have wanted.

Blog #10: Fermented Recipe

Lemon Pickle

Ingredients

• lemons - 12 small or 6 large (thin skins preferred)
• juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons
• ½ cup of salt
• ¼ cup of red chili powder
• ½ cup of sugar
• 3 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp fenugreek seed
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• ¼ tsp asafoetida powder

Preparation

1. Wash the lemons and dry them well, leaving no water on the lemons. Trim off the stalk and any odd bits.
2. Cut the lemons in to small pieces about 2 cm / ¾ inch on each side, and place in a bowl.
3. Dry-roast the fenugreek, black mustard and asafoetida together in a pan on a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Don't burn them!
4. Grind the roasted spices in a grinder, or a mortar and pestle.
5. Add the ground spices, turmeric powder, salt, sugar and chili powder to the bowl and mix together well.
6. Pack the mixture into a 2 quart jar, or use a couple of smaller jars. Don't fill quite to the top - allow at least 1 cm space.

Fermentation

Sit the jar where it will get the heat of the sun. Bring the jar inside in the evening, and put it back out in the morning. Do this for at least a month in summer, two months in winter. The warmth of the sun will help the pickle to ferment.

Blog #9: Government Disease Isolation

I think that the government should contain a person/people/town (if necessary) in order to prevent the spread of the disease, but they should treat the people less harshly than the movie. I think that the government involvement should depend on how serious the disease is. I also think the same thing about the army involvement. They should only be needed when it is truly necessary.

Blog #8: Hot Zone Biocontainment Facility Cautions and Procedures

When entering a hot zone biocontainment facility, there are many cautions that you should heed, and many procedures that you should follow. First, you should always wash yourself and eliminate as many contaminants as possible. Then you would put a "space suit" on to protect yourself from everything. When you're done, you rinse off the suit, then you leave the room and take it off. Some precautions are: NEVER have direct contact with the specimen, to ALWAYS keep your suit on when necessary, and to always clean yourself off so that no contaminants can stow away on you and hijack yours or even someone else's system.

Blog #7: IM Message

IM: dis is y i would never want to get chicken pox. even though i already got it once, i would h8 to get it again. :( the symptoms include itchy rashes, fever, malaise, irritability, mild headache, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite. -_____-  it only lasts 10 days though. it only spreads by direct contact. and once u get it once, it is very rare that some1 gets it again. :)

Translation: This is why I would never want to get chicken pox. Even though I already got it once, I would hate to get it again. The symptoms include itchy rashes, fever, malaise, irritability, mild headache, abdominal pain, and a loss of appetite. It only lats ten days though and it only spreads by direct contact between people. Once you get it, it is vey unlikely that you will ever get it again.

Blog #6: Marburg Poem

Marburg's symptoms
Agonizing pain
Restless
Bedridden
Unhealthy
Regurgitating
Gone