Unit 4 Reflection

To further grasp the concept of punnett squares and probability, in this Coin Sex Lab we flipped coins as a fair way to guess the probability of traits that offspring could inherit. Practicing monohybrid and dihybrid punnett squares helped me learn more about how to predict probabilities. My actual results in the dihybrid cross simulation came out completely different than my expected results. Almost all of the genotypes were off, since coin flipping causes the outcomes to be completely, uncontrollably, random. Although punnett squares can be used to predict certain traits offspring could inherit, it is not entirely accurate. There could be so many outcomes, punnett squares just tell the probability of the outcomes actually occurring. This relates to my life because I now know how to predict the probability of my kids having brown eyes and other traits. It's also helpful because I can see if my sons have a chance of being bald, and if I have  a chance of inheriting any bad traits my parents have. This unit was about connecting the puzzle pieces of genetics together. My strengths were doing the punnett squares because I find those fun. My weakness in this unit was understanding the difference between haploid and diploid. I learned more about how the human body has copies of chromosomes and how one sex chromosome from each parent gets passed to the offspring. The infographic taught me how to organize information neatly, and how to use specific colors, such as pink and orange, to contrast each other. I enjoyed creating the infographic. I want to learn more about codominance and the outcomes from it. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/1909_US_Penny.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Incomplete_dominance_punnett_square.png

Genetics Infographic

Why is Sex Important?

Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson is about how different organisms reproduce sexually or asexually. It goes into detail about a fictional talk show, in which Dr. Tatiana asks organisms how they reproduce. The book then proceeds to talk about how abolishing males from a species can be very dangerous. This book gives accurate scientific  information in a creative way.

 Sex is necessary for survival for sexually producing species. According to Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson, "...the loss of sex is almost always followed by swift extinction. Apparently, without sex you are doomed"(3).  Yet asexually producing organisms can go without having sex all their lives. Why is that? For example: the bedrid rotifer and her family mentioned in this book "has not had sex for more than eighty-five million years"(213). This bacteria also mentions that her species "...abolished males. They said they were better off without them"(214).
 This shows that sex is not important for asexually reproducing organisms. Instead of having sex, asexual organisms clone themselves. According to Olivia Judson, "sex may be fun, but cloning is much more efficient"(215).  Since "most bacteria don't have sex of any sort very often," they solely rely on cloning to pass down their genetics.  Yet in other cases when organisms stop having sex they die. In conclusion, sex is important because without it, organisms go extinct. What is the process of asexual cloning? Why can bacteria go without sex but not humans?