Kamryn Science Methods 1

3/12/2025 This week in lab I learned that structural changes to genes, named mutations, may affect proteins and have the possibility of resulting in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure or function of the organism. Mutations are a change within the DNA sequence whether it is the nucleotide or base. I additionally gained a stronger understanding of DNA code for protein. Every three bases codes for an amino acid, this is often referred to as the protein building blocks. The three-letter code is the instructions for making a protein one building block at a time. Some of those codes mean stop or start. I was able to apply what we learned the last couple of weeks in lab and lecture to our discussion about genotypes and phenotypes. Genotypes are combinations of alleles that they possess for a specific gene that are directly inherited from the parents. Phenotypes are observable characteristics or traits resulting from the expression gene, there can be environmental factors...

3/5/2025 This week I deepened my knowledge on dominant and recessive genes within genetics. We did a “baby lab” that demonstrated how human hereditary works and the basic genetic principles. In real life the inherited characteristics of the face are more complex than how we looked at them in this modeling example, but it illustrates examples of how genetics work to produce a human. This activity furthered my knowledge on terms like allele, genotype, phenotype, and recessive as I connected them to the activity. The coin flip relates to the probability of inheriting genetic conditions because the outcome of the genes is random. The outcome is never influenced by prior events.  I connected the DNA candy modeling activity that we did in lab today to a similar activity I did in middle school. I previously remember learning about how A pairs with T and/or T pairs with A - G pairs with C and/or C pairs with G. In middle school I used pipe cleaners to create a similar model. This modeling ...