Class

Of Lobsters, Sticklebacks, and Google Chrome

Kele Biology, Class, Development, Evolution, Science Tags: , , 3 Comments

The following is the last take-home essay for my developmental class. This essay is about the concept of modularity and how it is being used in biology today. It’s fairly basic stuff and if you are reading this blog, you probably know most of it already! I do hope you find the comparison to Google Chrome convincing though.

(This time we were urged to write in a more popular form so the writing is at a bit lower level and we didn’t have to source anything. I guess you can take what I say here with a grain of salt then. :P)

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Book Review: Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B. Carroll

Kele Biology, Book Review, Class, Development, Evolution, Science Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B Carroll is an excellent book. Both easy to read and understand in addition to containing some gorgeous pictures, Carroll makes his case for evo-devo clear and to the point. However, the book is not without its flaws, and I would like to discuss them here.
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Alan Turing’s Reaction-Diffusion Model – Simplification of the Complex

Kele Biology, Class, Favorites, Research Blogging, Science 14 Comments

ResearchBlogging.orgThe following post is what I wrote for the first 2-day essay in my developmental biology course. It covers the potential limitations of mathematical modeling in developmental biology – specfically, the reaction-diffusion systems of the computer scientist, Alan Turing. Perhaps the larger point I try to make is that ideas that are initially and blatantly disregarded as irrelevant seem to reappear later on as actually important! The post is a bit bulky but hopefully you find it of interest! Continue reading →

Senior Seminar: The Deterioration of the Mammalian Y Chromosome

Kele Biology, Class, Favorites, Science, Y Chromosome 2 Comments

So I just gave my senior seminar the other day in which I gave a ~40-minute talk on the deterioration of the Y chromosome.

The Case of the Y Chromosome: Will It Disappear and Spell the End of Man? (Google Docs).

I have uploaded my PowerPoint as a PDF on Google Docs for all to view. I even included the typed out notes I had so you can make the leaps between the slides! Hope you like it!

Let me know if you have any questions – I’ll be happy to answer them!

Evo-devo of digital reduction in amphibians

Kele Biology, Class, Development, Evolution, Research Blogging, Science 19 Comments

ResearchBlogging.orgSynopsis: Alberch and Gale: “A Developmental Analysis of an Evolutionary Trend: Digital Reduction in Amphibians” (1985). In this paper, the authors looked at different foot morphologies in extant amphibians and performed some experimental embryology with a few of the species. The induced developmental change followed the natural variation found by the authors! Details below!

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