the assignment has six (6) essay questions, all of which are thought questions inspired by lecture topics covered so far. PICK ANY FIVE (5).
1- Is intelligent design scientific? Why or why not?
2- Darwin was working in the 1800s, well before modern science tools that would be invented and allow the detection of DNA (which Darwin had no idea about) and exact processes of mutation.
Complete Darwin’s synthesis by adding in this new information about genetics and mutation. Where do you put it in the synthesis? What do you say about it? Is it a new bullet point or does it modify one of the existing ones from the synthesis?
3- Consider a hypothetical world that is exactly like ours but also includes a single species of rainbow-colored unicorns found in a single valley in California. By 500,000 years in the future, that species will have evolved into two species that both live in the same valley but remain distinct and separate species.
- Describe an imaginary scenario (that you come up with) to explain the speciation mechanism (we’ve reviewed three possibilities – pick one) that caused the second species to evolve.
- Describe a scenario to explain the mechanism by which these species remain distinct and separate despite living in the same valley (we’ve reviewed seven possible mechanisms).
4-The Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are a new type of mRNA vaccine. Most vaccines are injections of dead or weakened viruses, and your body responds by learning how to develop antibodies (proteins) that can travel through the blood and hunt down actual much more dangerous viral infections.
An mRNA vaccine is an injection like other vaccines but differs in that instead of being an injection of viral antibodies, this new one would be injection of mRNA code for these antibodies. The benefit of an mRNA vaccine is that no dead or weakened viruses need to be injected into the body.
Describe how this vaccine will work in the human body using the following wordbank from lecture: DNA, nucleus, transcription, mRNA, amino acid, translation, protein. Note: Not all of these terms are directly involved in how this vaccine will function. Be specific in stating which are involved and why others are not, where appropriate.
5- CRISPR-Cas9 is an adaptation of the bacterial immune system that probably evolved from one of the types of mutations we’ve reviewed (point mutation, gene duplication, chromosome duplication, genome duplication, transposon, horizontal gene transfer).
Of these, one of these is most similar in effect to how CRISPR functions and probably an “ancestor” to CRISPR. Identify this mutation type and describe the similarity.
6- What are isotopes, and how are these used to determine ages of rocks?
IMPORTANT these links got the class lectures that is needed to be used for the essays (nothing from google)
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