Bethany+M.

Wikipost 2: From Fish to Humans
 * May, 2014 **

Some people have a hard time believing that humans evolved from a primate (often compared to a monkey)- well, buckle up buds, it gets a lot weirder than that. If you look back far enough, you’ll find that humans have got some pretty fishy ancestors… literally.

Fish or Lemur? In 2012, a species moved from one genus to another all thanks to a seven million-year-old fossil. The species known as Arrhinolemur scalabrinii (translates to “lemur without a nose”) was recognized to actually be a fish, 114 years after it received its name. If two animals that seem very different today can be confused, then there must be a lot we can't see, inside the organisms and also historically.



Fins, Arms and Legs Limbs very often come in pairs. The Euphanerops below could be one of the earliest species to have paired appendages (projecting parts of the body). In their case, the appendages were fins, in our case, we have arms and legs. There was a period of time when fish with all sorts of fin combinations existed, but the paired ones worked best; we, and many other animals, have the natural selection of fish to thank for our paired limbs.



Antibodies The University of Pennsylvania found a similarity in the antibodies of humans and fish. IgTs (fish antibodies) and IgAs (human antibodies) go about maintaining intestinal health in a similar way. These IgTs seem to have been the first of their kind- "vertebrate immunoglobulin specialized in mucosal immunity". Because humans now have similar antibodies, we have another connection to them as possible ancestors.

Gene Patterns At the University of Toronto, Timothy Hughes and other researchers looked into the genes of vertebrates. They found that though their DNA sequences, which control gene expression, vary past the point of recognition, there is a very clear pattern still intact. He also believes that this could be wider, applying not only to vertebrates.

"You might be building a completely different heart, according to very different instructions, but there are certain steps and stages you must follow whether you're feathered or froggy." (Source cited below)



Your Inner Fish media type="custom" key="25822688" align="center"

Above is a video about the evolution of the human hand, beginning with the fin. media type="custom" key="25825240" align="center"

Finally, a video comparing the human brain to a fish's brain.

To see other primates making expressions that remind us of humans, check out this slideshow (very cute): [] To watch a video about our hands in relation to ancient tools, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To watch a video about how humans have evolved away from tails, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To watch a video about fishy fossils, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="color: #227766; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">More Information **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="color: #227766; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">Sources **

<span style="color: #211f68; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 40pt;">Wikipost 1: DNA Testing
 * <span style="color: #211f68; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">March, 2014 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being able to test and sequence DNA is an important innovation. Like most technologies, the process is becoming quicker and more accessible over time. As it gains momentum, we're seeing more and more news stories around the subject. Let's explore those, looking at the information they provide, the pros and cons of genetic testing and some of the controversy.

<span style="background-color: #201f68; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">The UK <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Currently, genetic testing is used once a problem has been identified. DNA identification can help recognize more specific details about the cancer you are suffering from. Jeremy Blunt, Health Secretary in Britain, is one of many who see a future in which the DNA of all humans is examined at birth to predict their probability of diseases in advance. A project began in 2013 that studies the genomes of 100 000 people over the course of five years.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Also in the UK, a controversial idea that aims to prevent children from inheriting genetic diseases from their mothers is being discussed. Why is it controversial? Children produced would have the DNA of three different people. Currently, inserting an altered egg or embryo into a person is illegal, so the procedure has never been tried. However, the government has decided that the treatment will most likely be allowed under strict regulations which will soon be consulted over a three-month period. One thing about this procedure that makes it especially innovative is the fact that it would not only alter the new child’s genetic information, but be passed down to that child’s future offspring and so on. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Once further public consultation on the detail of these regulations is complete, we urge the government to move swiftly so that parliament can debate the regulations at the earliest opportunity and families affected by these devastating disorders can begin to benefit.” –Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, the DNA of 100,000 cancer patients and 100,000 cancer-free people were compared by University of Cambridge scientists. They looked for common variations in the genes so that it would be possible to tell people they have a low or high risk of cancer- they decided on about 80 genetic markers to indicate this. There are a limited number of options once you've found out you've got a faulty gene, but being aware is always good. This process will hopefully also help us understand how these cancers develop.

<span style="background-color: #201f68; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">The US <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The story of a woman from New York outlined in the article "This Simple Blood Test Reveals Birth Defects- and the Future of Pregnancy" is a good example of genetic testing in everyday life and the controversy that comes with it. After having her first child, she had two miscarriages. This, along with learning that her family has a history of birth defects, caused her to be especially cautious when she next became pregnant in 2012. To find out if the baby would be healthy like her first, the mother and her doctor wanted to do some tests. She refused amniocentresis and chorionic villus sampling, as both procedures carry the risk of miscarriage, but her doctor suggested a new method: simply testing a blood sample. This procedure is a good innovation because it presents far fewer risks. Around 1 in 200 to 1 in 400 amniocenteses and 1 in 100 to 1 in 200 chorionic villus samplings result in miscarriages, among other risks. In the case of the mother from New York, the blood sample revealed that her fetus had Down syndrome and her husband and she decided to abort the pregnancy. This is where the controversy surrounding these tests comes in. Some questions that people ask when reading about these situations are: is it ethical to abort a pregnancy simply because of a disability? Should we avoid knowing these things before birth? How will tests like these affect the future?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The following is a news report that talks about the blood test and a woman in a similar situation with a different ending: media type="custom" key="25443318" width="705" height="335" align="center"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just this month, some connections have been made between noncoding RNA and the risk of Autism and other disorders. Nothing is really certain yet, except that no aspects of the human genome should ever be viewed as unimportant or "junk". We're always learning.



<span style="background-color: #201f68; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">China <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">In China, where parents were only allowed to have one child for a period of time, DNA testing to know the sex and traits of children in advance has been especially sought-after. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Despite the fact that China is loosening its grip on population control, many people are still only having one child. S <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">ome people, who are counting on a male or female child, are willing to pay a fair bit of money to ensure that that's what they're getting, resulting in some big companies such as BGI that has the largest gene sequencing capacity in the world. . The Chinese government has recently banned these sorts of tests, forcing patients to receive special permission to have them conducted. Companies like BGI are looking to gain approval from the government and change this.

<span style="background-color: #211f58; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">More Information <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To read about an interesting international project surrounding the human genone, click here: [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To learn more about the blood test that can detect Down syndrome and other birth defects, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.hhmi.org/news/new-blood-test-down-syndrome <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To find out more about the genetic testing ban in China, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2013/08/28/genomic-dreams-coming-true-in-china/ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">To read about DNA testing in Canada, click here: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://dnatestingcanada.com/

<span style="background-color: #211f58; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20pt;">Sources <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|ht][|tp://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10501788/Children-could-have-DNA-tested-at-birth.html] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66646000/jpg/_66646190_dnatest.jpg <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.newswise.com/articles/no-longer-junk-role-of-long-noncoding-rnas-in-autism-risk