Biology Class

At this moment I am taking two science classes. I have noticed that there is a lot overlap between the two classes. In my intro to health sciences class at Grand Valley we learn a lot of anatomical terms. We also learn how to break down the terms into the parts. For example in cytology the root word is cyt meaning cells and the suffix ology meaning the study of. Therefore cytology means the study of cells. Having this skill to break down words has helped me be able to remember words in this biology class a lot easier. Also, we learned about cells in my Grand Valley class and now we are just getting to learning about cells in this class. In my other class we learned about the phospholipid bilayer and hydrophobic and hydrophilic already. This overlap is very helpful because I am getting two perspectives on the information and I am learning it twice.

Biology News

New research has found that adult stem cells can change their epigenome to generate new organs. The genome of every single cell is the same regardless of its function or appearance.Therefor the activity of the tissues and organs and their disorders in complex diseases can't be fully explained by the genome. Epigenetics is the chemical changes in our genetic material and their regulatory proteins.The epigenome is all the epigenetic marks of a living being.

Adult stem cells have the potential to regenerate damaged organs. Using adult stem cells gets rid of the ethical risks of using embryonic stem cells. In this study scientists isolated stem cells from body fat and transformed them into muscle and bone cells. The study shows that the epigenome of the cells made by the experiment closely resemble real skeletal and muscle cells, however they are not identical.

This study has found that the use of epigenetics in determining the degree of maturity and biosecurity of different tissues used in regenerative medicine against different diseases is useful. For more information go to
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2012/10/02/adult_stem_cells_change_their_epigenome_to_generate_new_organs.htmlutm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29

Homecoming

Sparta High School does homecoming like no one else. Each grade competes against the others to win the coveted "Red Apple." This years overall theme was musicals. However, each year's theme is different. Each grade gets their own theme under the broad theme of the year. This year because the theme was musicals, each grade got a different musical as their theme. Freshman were High School Musical, Sophomores were Grease, Juniors were Footloose, and Seniors were Rock of Ages. Each grade then has to make a float and make up a dance to go with their theme. This dance is called mock rock, which is preformed to all the other grades on homecoming. On homecoming day we don't go to classes. First the homecoming court speaks and the cheerleaders preform. Then we play a series of games in which each grade gets points for winning. Then each class preforms their mock rock.

Over the years homecoming has always been great and fun. But, it has also always been extremely stressful. On the day though it is always exciting and brings the school together. I participated in float all four years and mock rock for two years. Being a senior always amps up the pressure to win the "Red Apple." I have to admit I was worried if we were going to win or not. But, we crushed every other grade so I am not sure why I was so worried. I am so sad that this is my last year and I will never get to experience homecoming like this again. But I had a great time at the games and at the dance and those great memories will stay with me forever.