Andrew+Bryne

__//**POST 1. December 20, 2012**//__  GENETICS: RECREATING DINOSAURS



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To see a real dinosaur has been the dream of many. Ever since Spielberg's //Jurassic Park// was released in 1993, many people have aspired to do just as John Hamond (character in JP) had. in the movie, the blood of dinosaurs was extracted out of prehistoric insects incased in solid amber. The DNA extracted from the blood was then used to create the animals. This method of aquiring prehistoric DNA holds meritt to a certain degree. Scientists have succeded in extracting DNA in this fashion from animals such as mamoths. The problem is that genetic material is so fragil and can't surive for millions of years. To this day, attempts of extracting dinosaur DNA from fossils have proven to be unsuccessful. However, this does not mean that having your very own pet T-Rex will be impossible... ( [|http] [|://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/08/dinosaur-dna-recreation]) - explainig the impossibility of extracting dino DNA

In 1861, a German palaeontologist named Hermann von Meyer encovered something remarkable. He had discovered the fossil of a dinosaur that looked suspiciously like a bird, he named it //Archaeopterix//. This small raptor like dinosaur seemed to avian qualities such as feathered arms that could have been used as wings. over the last 150 years, scientists have further studied the similarities between this creature and modern birds. It has been found that Archaeopterix had similar bone structutre to birds and flying creatures. Scientists have also found the microstructure of Archaeoptirix' wings to be identical to that of birds. Archaeopterix and other dinosaurs found like it have greatly influenced the confimation of birds being descendants of dinosaurs. ([]) - explainig similarities between Archaeopterix and birds)

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So, what if we could create dinosaurs using birds? Some scientists say that this is entirely possible and have already begun researching means to do so. How would we go about doing that? Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chari in Macro-evolution at McGill University, aims to create a dinosaur using a chicken. Larsson explains that the key to giving the traits of a dinosaur to a bird lies in the manipulation and activation of certain genes. Being direct descendants of dinosaurs, modern birds share many genes with their extinct relatives. To give a bird the traits of a dinosaur, certain dormant genes need to be activated and others need to be expressed longer or shorter. in his research, Larsson has tinkered with chicken embryos and has been able to give them recognizable "dino" traits like a longer tail. Larsson says, with the proper funding and amount of time, creating a "Chickenosaurus" is not too far off. He also says that it may be possible to create dinosaurs that look and behave just like the ones we dream about. ([]) - Introducing Larsson's work ([]) - Video, explaining long tail transformation

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Video - Growing Chicken tail



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[] Chicken - //**__POST 2, JANUARY 21__**// __Evolution: Homo Genus, the evolutionary tree of man __

The genus Homo was born approximately 2.5 million years ago from the ever evolving primate family. This genus is characterised by intelliegent, hairless (little hair) primates with upright postures. The Homo genus is considered to one of the most succesful in the history of planet Earth. Today, there is only one surviving species of this evolutionary family, us, Homo sapien. Today, we are the dominant species on Earth, but this was not always true. We were not always alone....

//**Homo habilis: **// Homo habilis is recognized as one of the earliest species on the genus Homo. This creature lived in eastern and southern Africa approximately 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago. This species had a larger head case and smaller face than earlier primates, but still retained some ape-like features. Habilis meaning "handy man" came about because this species was previously thought to be the oldest stone tool maker. They stood around 4 feet tall and weighing around 70lbs. Habilis is known to have had a wide ranging apetite.

//** Homo georgicus: **//Homo georgicus got its named from where it was discovered, the republic of Georgia. It lived approximately 1.8 million to 1.1 million years ago and was the first hominid found in Europe. This species also stood around 4 feet tall and had about half the brain size of a modern human.

//** Homo erectus: **//Homo erectus evolved in Africa around 1.8 million years ago and went extinct aroun half a million years ago. This was the first species to show systematic hunting and the use of fire. These creatures were very robust, reaching hights up to 1.8 meters tall. They are regognized for having short, but wide faces with very pronounced brow ridges. Erectus had a brain size ranging from 850 to 1100cc's. //** Homo ergaster: **//   Homo ergaster came about at the same time as Homo habilis and erectus and shared many of the same enviroments. There is much controvery over this species, it is thought to be a sub species of Homo erectus by many.

//** Homo antecessor: **// Homo antecessor is thougt to have been the like between Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergenis. Fossils of this species have been dated to as far back as 800 000 years. Antecessor enhabited Europe from 600 000 to 250 000 years ago. It stood around 1.6-1.8 meter tall and would have weighed around 90kg with a brain size of 1000-1200cc's. This species was also known to use many tools. //**Homo heidelbergenis:**// Homo heidelbergenis lived from 700 000-200 000 years ago fromin Africa, but also migrated to many colder climates. It stood approximately 6 feet tall and weighed around 140 pounds. Heidelbergenis had a similar facial structure to Homo erectus. This species was very inventive, they often used fire to alter tool. Heidelbergenis were known to be social and were the first big game hunters.

//** Homo neanderthalensis: **// Homo neanderthalensis lived from 250 000-30 000 years ago, it was the last species of hominid ever to go extinct. They lived mostly in colder climates, such as Europe. Neanderthals were shorter than modern humans, but stronger and more robust. Many people think of Neandrthals as big stupid cavemen, nothing could be further from the truth. Infact, they had very large brains being capable of speech, burying their dead and were extraordinary hunters. It is belived that neandethals went extinct due to overwhelming competiton with Homo sapiens. //** Homo sapien: **// Finally we have us. Modern humans evolved in Africa around 200 000 years ago and have since spread all over the world. Like other hominids, Homo sapiens gathred and hunted food and adapted to different enviroments. This species is characterised as being of a lighter build than some of its predecessors, but having a larger brain(around 1300cc). Ancient humans brought about a variety of complex tools, large and small, such as: spears, hooks, harpoons, needles etc.. For millions of years, hominids have hunted and gathered food, by 12 000 B.C, humans began producing foods. We found out that hearding animals and growing plants was a much more effectives means of feeding our selves. At the same time, we were building setlements to eliminated the need to always be on the go. These advancement have allowed our species to reach 7 000 000 000 strong...and counting. media type="youtube" key="doF4sNrQtmg" height="315" width="420" align="center"

REFERENCES: [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [|http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=570&tbm=isch&tbnid=RCKVJP6BmJK2FM:&imgrefurl=http://www.care2.com/news/member/939310581/1734438&docid=ML1dXC1QFuRXVM&imgurl=http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/c2c/share][|/17/173/344/1734438_370.jpg&w=369&h=277&ei=N1X8UJjJNIH28gSQ4IDAAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=944&vpy=263&dur=2538&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=122&ty=144&sig=114264631562650580754&page=2&tbnh=153&tbnw=200&start=22&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:43,s:0,i:213] [] - __**Post 3, January 21**__ __NS: The Central Nervous System __ The Central Nervous systeme or CNS, is what has controll over our bodies. It is localized to two main areas of the body, the brain and the spinal cord. It is comprized of two general types of tissues, grey matter and white matter, containing special nerve cells called neurons. More specifically, the CNS is mostly comprized by interneurons. In most cases ,interneurons relaysignals of information from sensory neurons to motor (output) neurons. They are the decision maker/enforcers of the body.

__**Function of a neuron: **__ A neuron is made up of many parts including: the cell body, dendrites, the axon, axon terminals, the myelin sheith, and the nodes of ranvier. The cell body contains most of its organelles and is responsible for completing tasks that keep the cell alive. Dendrites are tentacle like extensions coming out from the cell body, they recieve signals from other cells. The axon is a long extension protruding from the cell body that is responsible for moving an outgoing signal to the axon terminal. The myelin shieth is comprized of several cells wrapped around the axon. These cells insulate the axon to ensure that signal are not lost when travelling to the axon terminals. There are gaps between each of these cells and are called the nodes of ranvier. The electrical signal produced when a cell fires, tavel between these nodes. The axon terminals are also tentical like entities extending from the end of the axon. They transfer signals to the dentrites of a nother neuron.

How or when does a neuron fire(send a signal)? When a neuron is in its resting state, it contains many negatively charged particles. In this state, the inside of the neuron is more electronagative (-70mV) than its surrounding enviroment. When enough positively charged particles leak into the neuron via transport proteins (all over the cell membrane) it will experience a radical action. When the neuron reaches its threshold potential (-50mV) it floods with positive particles and an electrical signal as well as certain chemicals is/are sent flying down the axon to its terminals and to a nother neuron. __**The Brain and Spinal cord: **__ The Brain is the main controll center of the CNS, it contains the largest amount of neurons of anywhere in the body. The brain is broken up into three main sections: the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. The forebrain is made up different sections, such as the limbic system, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the basal ganglia, and the cerebral cortex. It is responsible for hormone controll, voluntary movements, the processing of complex sensory and other information etc... The midbrain serves to transmitt information back and forth between the forebrain and hindbrain. The hindbrain resides at the lower rear area of the brain. It is made up of different section, such as the cerebrum, medulla, and the pons. It is responsible for controlling involuntary actions and the coordination of motor activity. The hindbrain is also connected to the spinal cord via the brain stem. The spinal cord is connected to the base of the brain and runs all the way down to the tail bone. It serves as a relay between the Peripheral Nervous System (sensory and motor) and the brain. Aside from this main function, the spinal cord is also involved with reflexes. It serves as a bypass system for the sensory neurons to comunicate directly with the motor neurons. This is important because certain circumtances call for instant action, comunicating with the interneurons would only slow this down. media type="youtube" key="cqvoV4R7T2g" height="315" width="420" [] [] [] [] []
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