Kayleigh+C.

Biology 122 Wikispace: The Evolution of House Cats Above is me, and my cat. Shes kinda awful. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a crazy cat lady in training. But, have you ever wondered where our furry friends came from? Today, you're going to find out. It turns out that one third of American households have feline members, and more than 600 million cats live among humans worldwide today. So, its safe to say that domesticated cats are pretty popular. Cats are extremely good hunters, and have good hearing, and vision but where did they get that from? Most wild animals were domesticated for their milk, meat, wool or servile labor, cats contribute virtually nothing in the way of sustenance or work to human lives today. How, then, did they become one of the most popular and common household pets? I read an article, from the "Scientific American" website that ended up comparing the DNA from 979 different wild and domesticated cats, and from that, scientists were able to highlight five unique genetic clusters. Only one cluster, which originated from the Middle East, contained modern domesticated cats. This genetic discovery, shows that cats were first domesticated over 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and not 3,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt as many previously thought. Today's pet is much different than its ancestors, which were wild, and mean felines that would rather attack a human than rub against someone's leg or cuddle and purr like they do now. Genetic Analysis and information from another reading, (linked below) has shown that domestic cats do not normally breed with their close relatives, the wildcats, even where populations overlap, so house cats may be considered a whole different species in and of themselves. A really long time ago, wildcats became more tolerant of living in human-dominated environments began to mate and make more cats throughout villages throughout the Fertile Crescent. Because these proto–domestic cats were undoubtedly mostly left to fend for themselves, their hunting and scavenging skills remained very sharp and well, just like today. Even today most domesticated cats are free agents that can easily survive independently of humans unlike dogs. (Sorry I had to compare;) So the question arises now, are today’s cats truly domesticated? Well, yes- yes, they are. Although they satisfy the criterion of tolerating people, most domestic cats are feral and do not rely on people to feed them or to find them their mates. Other animals, like dogs, look quite distinct from their wild ancestors. It does exhibit a few morphological differences, however—namely, slightly shorter legs, a smaller brain and, as Charles Darwin noted, a longer intestine, which may have been an adaptation to scavenging scraps and hunting for food to eat. A very small photo of a very sleepy cat. How cute. A chart showing how kitties evolved.

Another chart showing different types of cats, domesticated and wild.

References: [] [] []

Future Reading:

[] Video: This video explain the evolution of house cats, but the man featured in it is rather creepy....:S media type="youtube" key="IMlADkLtkho" width="560" height="315" Biology 122 Wikispace: Schizophrenia Edit: everytime I try and add a fourth photo, the top photo repeats at the bottom??

Kayleigh Colford

You may have heard of the disease Schizophrenia in many forms of media, such as movies, television shows and popular novels. As the stigma of mental illnesses disappears as the world becomes more educated on the topic, the disease itself becomes less stigmatized and there are more options for treatment. But What exactly is Schizophrenia and what does it do to the brain? A lot of people believe that schizophrenia is juts a split personality or multiple personality, but in fact, it is not. The word "schizophrenia" does mean "split mind," but it refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions as well as thinking. Schizophrenia is defined as "a severe brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior."

Schizophrenia affects one to two percent of people worldwide, which doesn't seem like that many, but most people go undiagnosed. The disorder can develop as early as the age of five, though it is very rare. Most men become ill between the ages of 16 and 25 whereas most women become ill between the ages of 25 and 30. Even though there are differences in the age of development between them, men and women are equally at risk for schizophrenia. There is of yet no definitive answer as to what causes the disorder. It is believed to be a combination of factors including genetic make-up, pre-natal viruses, and early brain damage which cause neurotransmitter problems in the brain.

Tests conducted showed that blood flow was lower in frontal regions in with this illness than people without it. This condition has become known as hypofrontality. Other studies say that people with schizophrenia often show reduced activation in frontal regions of the brain during tasks known to normally activate them. Even though many tests show that the frontal lobe function performance is impaired and although there is evidence of reduced volume of some frontal lobe regions, no consistent pattern of structural degradation has yet been found. There is, however, a great deal of evidence that shows that the temporal lobe structures in schizophrenic patients are smaller. Some studies have found the hippocampus and amygdala to be reduced in volume. The severity of symptoms such as auditory hallucinations has been found to be dependent upon the sizes of these language areas. Another area of the brain that has been found to be affected is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is associated with memory, which would explain the disordered thought processes found in schizophrenics. Test done on humans and animals in which the prefrontal cortex has been damaged showed similar cognitive problems as those seen in schizophrenic patients. The prefrontal cortex has one of the highest concentrations of nerve fibers with the neurotransmitter dopamine and scientists have learned that the relatively new antipsychotic drug, which increases the amount of dopamine released in the prefrontal cortex, often improves cognitive symptoms. They also found that the prefrontal cortex contains a high concentration of dopamine receptors that interact with glutamate receptors to enable neurons to form memories. This means that dopamine receptors may be especially important for reducing cognitive symptoms. Schizophrenia is a chronic condition, requiring lifelong treatment so the patient can lead a normal life, without it they cannot. media type="youtube" key="dAWkZguGD7s" width="560" height="315" This is a video about a girl named Jani, who has one of the worst cases of childhood Schizophrenia doctors had ever seen. She is thought to have been born with this disorder. Further Readings About Jani- [] More on Schizophrenia- [] [] [] References:

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[] The Evolution Of Blonde Hair Kayleigh Colford Biology 122 As we learned in Biology 122, a single letter of genetic code can determine hair color, while leaving other aspects of pigmentation unaffected. However, in my wiki post I will be teaching you how blonde hair has evolved over the centuries and also on its future in a world where genetic populations are much less isolated. I'll start of by stating that a genetic mutation that codes for the blond hair of Northern Europeans has been identified. The single mutation was found in a long gene sequence called KIT ligand (KITLG) and is present in about one-third of Northern Europeans. People with these genes could have platinum blond, medium blonde or even dirty blonde hair. The Scientists conducting this study have found that replacing one of DNA’s four letters at a key spot in the genome shifts a particular gene’s activity and leads to lighter hair colour. Not only does the work provide a molecular basis for flaxen locks, but it also demonstrates how changes in segments of DNA controls the genes, not just changes the genes altogether. Because our appearance is so strongly influenced by the color of our skin and hair, geneticists have long sought to understand the genetic bases of these traits and how they evolved over time. Over the past 6 years, studies of genetic variation in thousands of people have linked at least eight DNA regions to blondness based on the fact that a certain DNA letter, or base, was found in people with that hair color but not in people with other hair colours. Mutations in these genes typically change skin and hair color. Other SNPs lay outside genes but could be part of the regulatory DNA that helps control the function of genes nearby. Changes in that regulatory DNA could result in hair color but not skin color change, or vice versa, because regulatory DNA can change gene activity in just certain parts of the body.

In a study conducted by Nature Genetics it was concluded that mice with blonde generating SNP were lighter than mice with other genetics. When this concept was studied and regulatory DNA in human cells was grown in a laboratory dish, they discovered that the blond-generating SNP reduced //KITLG //activity by only about 20%. Yet that was enough to change the hair colour. “This study provides solid evidence” that this switch regulates the expression of //KITLG// in developing hair follicles, says Fan Liu, a genetic epidemiologist at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Blond hair may not be important to survival, but the story of one of its genetic causes helps clarify how evolution can occur. //KITLG// is active in many places in the body, and any mutation in the gene itself would result in widespread problems in the body and even death. Thus, the change that led to blond hair did not affect the gene elsewhere in the body. It is literally only skin deep.

References:

@http://www.livescience.com/46036-blond-hair-gene-identified.htmlhttp://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/06/genetics-blond-hair Further Readings: @http://www.americanscientist.org/science/pub/blonde-hair-evolved-more-than-once @http://www.refinery29.com/2012/08/35531/blonde-hair-evolution @https://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/the_evolution_of_blond_hair_and_blue_eyes_among_nordics/

And to finish off the post, here is a video on the topic: I apologize the video is quite weird, but honestly it was the only video I could find that wasn't a tutorial on how to dye your hair blonde... :/

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