Jargon Assignment

Group 5 (Ayesha, Anallely, Folake, Joseph, and Katherine): Summary

Target Group: Middle schoolers preparing to take the science state exam 

Getting down to the bare bottom basics of what in the world DNA is, let’s describe legos. You know them, love them, and probably get the idea behind them. They’re building blocks and vary in size, color, and shape. Even though each block is necessary to complete a whole set, we often take the little guys for granted. In terms of legos, DNA strands are the instructions to making the complete lego set that is you! How those lego sets are built, edited, and made bigger and better without you ever knowing involves little activities within your body. Transcription for example involves the copy and pasting of these instructions to the mRNA middleman who brings it to the ones who’ll actually build the set. In terms of the topic today, ideas such as scientists identifying the odd pattern of how these instructions are understood, an organism’s belated relatives, and its overall structure will be investigated by way of pond algae. The M. viride, its collection of instructions, and its bundle of other blocks, better defined as its genome, are key to understanding the timelessness and complexity of life itself. 

The M. viride isn’t a difficult organism to understand. It’s, in simple terms, a pond-dwelling plant’s genetic material. M. viride provides a simpler way of understanding the various ideas behind organismic structure and functions. We can compare the M. viride to a factory and its assembly line. The process of copying and pasting instructions to completing a function or action in the factory is directly determined by consistency. Depending on how great of a product is asked for by an organism’s body, transcription factors or TF’s are the least appreciated upgrade there is. Transcription factors can speed or reduce the rate the assembly line copies and paste DNA onto mRNA. The production of TF’s within an organism, specifically M.Virides, can be explained with its numbers in the pond algae’s relatives. The TF’s in M. Virides are classified into 31 different families. Although the families were present in the common ancestor, green plants, the number of TF in M. viride was the smallest among all known genomes in Streptophyta due to its simple structure. Streptophyta is one of two divisions between the Viridiplantae or green plants, the other being chlorophytes or water plants. TFs in M. viride accounted for 0.5% of the protein-coding genes the lowest percentage among all known species within Streptophyta. TF quantity increases with organismal complexity, an evolutionary hallmark of many organisms stems directly from those little guys. 

DNA is the genetic material found in the cells of all living organisms and  It is shaped like a twisted ladder.  Cell is the smallest of an organism’s structural and functional units. It consists of a watery substance surrounded by a membrane or wall, usually too thin to see.  Most species are made of just one cell, such as algae. Algae is a polyphyletic group consisting of species from several different clades such as, seaweed and pond scum. Now most plants, for instance the Algae, are made of Multicellular.  Multicellular organisms are organisms that consist of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organisms. Now going many years back,scientists have been studying and analyzing the evolution of many species, including extinct ones. Evolution is the process through which species change over time. Furthermore, evolution is a scientific theory meaning it is a statement based on observation and experiment. If continued observation and experiment support the statement, it may become accepted. There are different methods to compare species including fossils. To be able to compare cells, like algaes, scientists usually use two types of methods, viewing them under a microscope or electron microscope. 

For scientists, it is important to understand how and why things are the way they are. As mentioned earlier, our DNA is a very fundamental part of who we are. It controls so many different aspects like our height, the color of our eyes, and the shape of our face. It has the very same role in all organisms, including algae like the M. viride. By studying the DNA of M. viride, we can see similarities that it may have to other types of algae species. Scientists look closely at the gene patterns (remember, genes are the building blocks of DNA) of the different DNA strands. If there are many similarities between the gene patterns, this may mean that the two algae species were related at some point. 

This realization is important for us to understand evolution. The more similar that the DNA of two species are, the more closely related they are. This can also signal that they were one species many thousands of years ago but have now changed to become two different species. Patterns and research like this comparing thousands of species and their DNA helps scientists draw a map of how different species are related and how they have evolved since. 

An interesting example of why this study is so important is related to charophyte algae. After closely analyzing the genetic pattern of this algae species, scientists were able to determine that land plants developed/evolved from that specific algae. This means that hundreds of millions of years ago, the charophyte algae was slowly changing and evolving until it eventually resulted in the land plants we see today. This exciting fact is the reason that all the plants around us exist and this type of research process helped us understand how it happened. 

RNA is similar to DNA but different in its own way. For one, DNA is double-stranded, which means it looks like a spiral staircase. RNA is single-stranded, which would look as though the spiral staircase was sliced vertically. RNA goes out of the nucleus and does all the work while DNA sits at home in the nucleus. RNA is what helps us create proteins in our cells, specifically involving the ribosomes, which is where proteins are made. There are different types of RNA, like transfer RNA, messenger RNA, and ribosomal RNA, but we’ll focus on microRNA while we discuss M.viride, which is responsible for gene expression. M.viride’s genome has microRNA within it that is partly responsible for the plant’s response to changes in the environment that could affect the plant’s growth, such as pH, light intensity, and temperature. 

   The discussion of RNA’s involvement in M.viride is important because it shows us what’s responsible for regulating the response in surrounding conditions. All organisms make use of RNA and we wouldn’t be able to function without them because of our need for protein. Proteins help us for growth and repair, bodily functions, and so on. One factor pertaining to the condition of proteins, however is the environment itself. 

The environment changes variedly. Environmental conditions vary by temperatures, amount of light, water, levels of ph, and a plethora of other factors. Environmental conditions may also cause a reaction to their surroundings while at the same time, to others it may not. When placed under light, M.viride develops larger proteins that are important for photosynthesis, which is also known for land plants. When comparing M. viridis to C. reinhardtii, it was found that there were lower photosynthesis activities in M. viride. C. reinhardtii demonstrated to have an efficient photosynthetic capacity in carbon concentrating mechanisms because of the starch granules which were abundant within that specific species. 

Much like the many conditions that build an organism effectively, legos are a complex topic to grasp on a whim. Of course, anyone could build their own Eiffel tower, white house, or maybe be daring and go for the death star depending on their personal investments. Regardless of any set available at your neighborhood Target, each and every construct has a beginning as instructions. With the luxury to build as we please, from small blocks to big blocks, assembly and disassembly is a process to behold. One really has to admire the little guys from within, the genetic directions governing each and every building within ourselves. Without the means developed so intimately throughout time, life wouldn’t be as distinct and downright fascinating as it is now. Hopefully that much is enough to drive you on the path to understanding the inner workings of these little guys and their huge roles within our everything.

 

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Sci-Fi Movie Essay

Group #5: Folake Famuyide, Joseph Flores, Katherine Parra, Ayesha Khan and Anallely Vargas

Professor Zayas

Writing for the Sciences

03/09/2021

Introduction

Snowpiercer is a movie that explores social conflicts in a post-apocalyptic world. A South Korean-Czech co-production, the film stars Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, and Ed Harris. In 2014, the effort to fight global warming through geo-engineering backfires disastrously, inevitably inducing an ice age that wipes out most of humanity. In this environment, oceans freeze over, animal populations disappear, and agriculture becomes impossible to maintain. The last survivors of humanity are barely able to collect and preserve necessities and pack themselves on a single train. 

The train is powered by an “eternal engine” and within the train, the population is divided by social class along the length of the train. Near the front of the train, the first class are living out their fabulous and eccentric lifestyles while the poorest passengers near the end of the train are left with scraps. The main plot of the movie covers the poorer passengers planning and executing a revolution to overtake the engine room and receive better treatment for themselves. After discovering the extent of the inequality and the fact that the officials do not have a real defense system, many of these poorer passengers plan a violent journey to the front of the train. Through this film, the director Bong Joon-ho explores the devastating impacts of environmental instability, calling for humanity to take the threat of climate change more seriously.

Methods

The very premise of this film is based on how the threat of climate change impacted humanity. Though this film focuses on a world completely changed because of a human experimentation gone wrong, it does incorporate the risks that mankind took with the fast-approaching environmental threats they were facing. And so, the real and scientifically proven threat of climate change is well-demonstrated in this film – showing the extreme and otherworldly environment that can one day be our reality. 

Though the film focused on the after-effects of a failed experiment, the global arctic climate is still a good representation of what climate change can lead to. Despite popular belief, climate change does not mean that every location on the planet is getting warmer. Though globally the temperature is increasing, many locations are experiencing colder extremes rather than warm ones. This is because imbalances in global temperature can cause shifts in polar vortexes, wind patterns, and many other environmental misdirections. Overall, this can lead to arctic extremes in areas that previously never experienced that type of temperature – looking quite similar to the ice-age like environment in the film.

Furthermore, this movie was obviously different from our reality in the main way that all of humanity existed on this one train. Still, within this train, Joon-ho showed humanity’s attempt at recreating some parts of their old world. In many clips of the movie, children are shown in classroom settings being taught the train’s new version of history as well as learning services that they can contribute to on the train as they grow older. There is also an aquarium in the middle of the train with some of the last known population of fish. This aquarium is also a reminder of the unfrozen bodies of water that once surrounded humans in their past. Further down the train there is also a green house with the last remaining plant population and the only source of agriculture on the train. All these elements show examples of humans trying to artificially incorporate aspects of their old world or the world we presently live in. 

Results

The earth is frozen due to a failed geoengineering attempt to cool the planet by injecting particulates into the upper atmosphere, the CW-7. Though it’s somewhat odd on paper, it’s credible according to science and a relatively huge call out to global warming and the prolongation in dealing with such an issue. When volcanoes erupt, they release ash, lava, smoke, and other chemicals. And while it’s easy to say that volcanoes blow up enough to block the sun and cause a change in the climate, the gloomy clouds of ash particles alter the weather, not the climate. Climate is long-term and wide-scale, weather is shorter-term. As a result, the earth’s average temperature declines by about 0.6°C for approximately two years following an eruption.  Sulfur dioxide from volcanoes has a cooling influence on the earth. Those aerosols, however, are only a bandage on the wound and don’t exactly heal the wound. Injecting aerosols into the stratosphere should be a temporary measure, something you do while you work as hard as you can to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Though that’s just a minor solution to the issue at hand. The movie takes a reflective view towards the what-if factor of this alleviator. That being, what if there was too much CW-7 released into the atmosphere? Well according to the movie…the opposite of global warming, global freezing. 

The first perpetual motion machine that we know about was introduced by an Indian mathematician in 1150. The original idea was a gravity device—an over-centered wheel where the arms stick out on one side and hang slack on the other, so it’s always out of balance and will always keep revolving. The concept is so compelling that people have been reinventing it ever since. As new physical sensations have arisen, people have added all sorts of new physics: perpetual motion machines driven by magnetic and electrical machines. It wasn’t until the late 17th Century that these overbalanced rollers were shown not to operate. And it wasn’t until the 19th Century which speculated that the whole system was impossible. So perpetual motion is clearly impossible, and yet, very talented folks come along all the time with new concoctions at every moment. 

Discussion

The movie Snowpiercer is a direct commentary on class divisions in the modern world and the unfairness of it all. In a world where everyone is simply trying to survive, society still divides itself into the haves and have nots, where everyone has their allotted place as a “shoe” or a “hat;” everyone is to stay in their place. In other words, a shoe should never strive to be a hat. The film utilizes science fiction to create an apocalyptic world that overemphasizes the class divisions in a way that is unavoidable. There is no way to overlook how the tail section is fed protein blocks made of dead bugs while the front section enjoys sushi and nightclubs. Curtis even reveals that he knows “babies taste best,” which shows the “distinct class oppression” that forced him to commit “the worst human act” (Sutton, 2016) Also worth noting is how Wilford uses the tail section’s revolts against them in a form of genocide that controls only the tail’s population, instead of the precious people of the front. We can observe this in real life, where those in power tend to protect the interests of those who are more fortunate, rather than those who simply want a better life. While Wilford is described as “merciful” by the front section, he is hated by all in the tail. This “carefully composed cult of personality” (Lee, 2013) is used to keep order within the front section, it even seemed like brainwashing. As a result, Wilford will never be questioned and those of the front section would not begin to care about the injustices occurring in the tail section. While Snowpiercer uses extremes made possible by science fiction, the topics are very relevant to modern society. 

 The film teaches us that there will always be class division, whether in the past, present, or future. While the higher-class gets a better life-style, the lower-class must struggle immensely to hold onto whatever they have left, even if it is their lives themselves. The film shows that the train has a solid hierarchy divided into separate carts; the higher-class is closer to the front while the lower-class are in the train’s tail. As a result of this science-fiction film, we learn that chaos will rise due to climate change taking a tremendous toll on the separation of classes. We notice how they go to extremes to present how the world will be affected by climate change and that there will always be a struggle to maintain balance. The lower-class will want to work their way to the top by whatever means necessary. All that is known is that the higher one is in a hierarchy, the more benefits one gets, and everyone wants to receive those benefits; everyone wants to be treated equally. With this film’s emphasis on climate change, we become more attentive and learn to care about it more since we do not know what to expect in the future.

References

Lee, C. (2013, July 23). ‘Snowpiercer’ powerfully explores class, privilege. The Korea Herald.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130723000835

Sutton, T. (2016, June 2). Snowpiercer and Social Revolution. The Artifice. 

https://the-artifice.com/snowpiercer-and-social-revolution/

Thompson, Lonnie G. “Climate change: the evidence and our options.” The Behavior analyst 

vol. 33,2 (2010): 153-70. doi:10.1007/BF03392211