Dan+P.


 * Wiki Post Numero 1 (February 28, Friday)**

** Albinism **

//**__What is Albinism? __**//

Albinism is an inherited genetic condition which occurs due to the reduction of melanin pigments formed in hair, skin, and eyes. Melanin is a chemical in our body that colors our skin, hair and eyes. Disregarding the race and the skin color of biological parents, people with this symptom does not have any other colors except white in all of their body parts. According to the statistics, approximately one in 17,000 people possess albinism and in other parts of the world, it can get as high as one in 3000 people.



__//** OMG What happens when you get it?!!?! **//__

Well, there are actually more to it just than your body parts turning white. For people like me who is clumsy and lazy, albinism will be a pain in the butt because every time you go outside to do anything such as going to school or building a snowman, it requires a complete coverage of your skin being exposed to the sunlight. Just as people with whiter skin color becomes easier to get a sunburn, people with albinism gets sunburn in a blink of an eye and are more likely to acquire skin cancer. Additionally, since albinism also have effects on your eyes, they provide vision problems that are not correctable with glasses and causes many people to have a low vision. In biological explanation of this symptom, albinism causes abnormal development of retina and abnormal patterns of nerve connections between the eye and the brain that cause vision problems.



//**__WHY? __**////**__WHY? __**////**__WHY? __**//

The most common for of albinism is called oculocutaneous albinism(OCA), as it causes the disruption of melanin synthesis all autosomal recessive disorders. In terms of genetics, the genes for OCA are located on autosomal chromosomes. Autosomes are the chromosomes that contain genes for our general body characteristics, contrasted to the sex chromosomes. As humans tend to have two copies of these chromosomes which we get one inherited from our father and another from our mother. In order to have a child with albinism, both parents must carry defective OCA gene. Even though both parents did not possesses albinism, if both parents carry defective OCA gene, there is 1/4 chance at each pregnancy that their baby will be born with albinism. As mentioned previously, this type of inheritance is called "autosomal recessive".



Melanin - Understanding Albinism

media type="youtube" key="r4q4V2LbzD0" width="560" height="315" A video clip of a personal experience of having a child with an albinism and an experience from a person who actually has albinism. I thought this clip might be helpful of viewing what people with albinism has to go through, see how their daily lives are different from ours, and to know their personal opinions about albinism.


 * Furthur Reading: **

1. [] - Information about Albinism World Alliance 2.[] - Provides advice and support for people with an interest in albinism. 3. [] - Mashawna shares her own personal experiences in having a child with albinism. 4. [] - is dedicated to keeping you informed of the latest research, research opportunities and breakthroughs.


 * References: **

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 * Wiki Post #2 (May 2, Friday)**

**WHY WAS CHARLES DARWIN BORN...(Evolution)** I mean seriously… Just because of his great discovery we had to spend weeks of boring evolution power points in Biology class when we could’ve have done something even more fascinating such as who can close their eyes for the longest. With like our face on the desk. You know what I mean?! However, I shall show you why his discoveries were fascinating and why our curriculum has not replaced it with a sleeping contest.

__** Who is CHARLES DARWIN **__

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who gained great fame within his lifetime as well as long after his death for the development of evolutionary theory. Most of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory is contained in the book // Origin of Species //



__** Well.. Why Should I Even CARE? **__

You should care about his dedication towards science because perhaps no one has influenced our knowledge of life on Earth as much as the English naturalist Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution by natural selection, now the unifying theory of the life sciences, explained where all of the astonishingly diverse kinds of living things came from and how they became adapted to their particular environments. His theory reconciled a host of diverse kinds of evidence such as the progressive fossil record, geographical distribution of species, embryology comparison, homologous structures, vestigial organs and nesting taxonomic relationships. No other explanation before or since has made sense of these facts.

__** NOICE! What Is His Most Well-Known Work? **__

.....Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution...? DUH! After interest in the subject of evolution, Darwin began noticing key elements to the topic upon his trip on the HMS Beagle. While on the Galapagos Islands, Charles noted that each island had a type of bird (finch) which appeared closely related, however different in certain ways. After his return to England, Darwin began researching this connection among the bird, with interest of how others species may also evolve. Charles Darwin eventually devoted his life to this study. With the help of another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, who had similar theories as Darwin, the two published a novel, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection", in 1859. This novel became a huge topic of discussion among scientific world and also society in general due to it's controversial material. The novel claimed that // homo sapiens // were simply another form of animal and had evolved from apes. This theory immediately received negative feedback and attacks specifically from the Church. Although first doubted, Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution soon gained credit and eventually became a very respected, well known theory amongst the natural world.



__**WHAT IS THEORY OF EVOLUTION VIDEO**__ media type="custom" key="26196846" This video further explains Charles Darwin's one of the greatest discovery called "Theory of Evolution".


 * Furthur Reading: **

[] This website goes into great detail of the Darwin's Theory of Evolution. [] This website describes the voyage on the HMS Beagle. [] This site describes Alfred Russel Wallace's contribution to the theory. [] Biography of Charles Darwin.


 * References: **

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