Evidence-David Shenk expresses the idea that there is a vast array of influences, many out of our control, which influence traits and talents. Provide examples of how culture forms our behavior and traits and determine the type of interaction it is. What are similarities of organisms in the same community? How does the environment affect our behavior and traits, what type of interaction is it? Provide examples of the abiotic factors affect humans and how? Internally and externally. Explain the process of how these abiotic factors can affect gene expression by turning genes on and off. Is having many factors that affect traits and talents a positive thing? what is the evolutionary advantage of having so many factors which can change traits?
Bing Zhao (bingzhao9@yahoo.com)
Culture is so important in forming behavior: culture and lifestyle. One great example is the story of Yo-Yo Ma mentioned by Shenk. Yo-Yo Ma’s “uncanny ability” of music developed from early exposure to music as his family moved to France to study and compose music. Ma’s family “breathed, ate, and slept music” ; it was even said that he was “surrounded by a world of music […] Bach and Mozart were engraved on his mind” (93-94). Thus, the influence of the highly musical Ma family on Yo-Yo Ma was very strong AND out of his control. He did not choose what family he was raised in and did not choose what jobs his parents had. In addition, a strong example of culture affecting behavior and traits is the affect of growing up in an asian household. Most asian families are proud of their culture and heritage and impose it on their children to continue the lineage. Some of these affects are strict upbringing, emphasis on hard work and discipline, and respecting elders. This can range from stricter curfews to more hours allotted to studying to being forced to learn an instrument. And because many of these practices start at an early age, it can be seen why many Asian students tend to excel in school: better grades, more involved, proper behavior (http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/mcdp/Asian%20handout.htm ). For example, many Asian kids are taught to play the violin or piano at a very early age; therefore, by the time they reach high school, they are some of the top musicians. In addition, the discipline that comes from hours of practice are reflected in good work ethic and diligence. The influence of parental involvement is crucial in the achievements of the offspring. These external factors can also affect the offspring internally with the development of motivation and learning (http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/asian/education_academia_study/voa_asian_achievement_1205.asp ). Similarities of organisms in the same community can include similar goals and niches. For example, relating to humans, students growing up in the Stevenson area, an affluent society with high expectations, are usually similar in their goals of getting into a good college and growing up to have a family and good job. Because they have grown up in a comfortable environment, they hope to provide the same for their kids and themselves in the future. Physical characteristics can also display similarities. The environment affect terrestrial plants: since there is a lack of water on land and water needed to be conserved from evaporation, land plants developed a waxy cuticle (http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/ElsArticle/refId-a0002088.html) . Another example is the natural selection and evolution of spikes on cactuses. Water conservation is crucial in the desert where it is scarce. Therefore, cactuses over time evolved to have spikes on the outside of them to protect the water within from predators.
ReplyDeleteThe environment largely affects our behavior and traits to help create a culture. Early pioneers that settled in the prairie lands where farmers since fields were abundant. Another example of how environment can affect our behavior and traits is with our abilities of learning. For example, imprinting, the formation at a specific stage in life of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object. What is or is not learned during the sensitive period will affect the behavior of the offspring and whether or not it will survive. In addition, associative learning and cognition learning develops through interactions with the environment as well. One can learn through trial and error how to survive in the woods hunting or finding out what objects are edible or not. The ability to learn and adapt to the environment is crucial to survival and reproduction of an organism (Campbell 1126-1127). If an organism lives in an area of extreme cold, those with adaptations to the cold, such as a warm coat of fur, will be better off through natural selection to have a better chance of not becoming extinct. In addition, those organisms with a niche better adapted to surviving in the cold (hibernating, collecting food, etc) will be better off to survive and reproduce, passing on these behavior techniques that can learned. Abiotic factors affect human behaviors similarly to the example above. When humans become cold, they put on a coat. These abiotic facts affect humans by changing their gene expression to best suit the environment. If the body becomes too hot, sweating occurs to cool the body by evaporation of sweat along with heat. In addition, vasodialation occurs to draw heat away from the heart and other vital organs. Overtime, humans have evolved to be more efficient energy creators because of the massive amount of energy use to regulate and adapt to the environment, for “an organism’s phenotype is the synergistic product of genes AND the environment” (COB 25). Many factors affecting traits can be a good thing because it allows the body to adapt and develop different ways of coping and responding to many different situations and environments, heightening chances of survival and reproduction. This provides an evolutionary advantage when an organism can adapt to changes in the environment. Therefore, the many factors prove beneficial in influence.
ReplyDelete(Lea Nowack, lea.nowack123@gmail.com)
Certain cultures can influence the types of environments where people choose to spend time, and environment can play a critical role in the genetic expression of physical traits, such as skin and hair color. In a community that routinely spends a large amount of time in the sun, its individual members are more likely to follow suit. The more ultraviolet radiation these people are exposed to, the more melanocytes in their skin are destroyed. The destruction of these cells begins a biological pathway, which leads to the release of a chemical that “turns up the volume” on the gene that produces melanin, stimulating the production of more melanin in each melanocyte, as well as the production of more of the melanocytes themselves (melanogenesis). The extra melanin and melanocytes make the skin a darker color, and protects the cells from UV radiation. The result is tanned skin. Since hair is already dead, the ultraviolet radiation merely bleaches the hair, which cannot repair itself or respond. The result of this is lighter hair (http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=180). Therefore, people who live in a community environment in which they spend a lot of time in the sun will show a tendency to have darker skin and lighter hair due to the abiotic factor of ultraviolet radiation.
ReplyDeleteCulture and lifestyle can even reverse the effects of a genetically predisposed disease. In a study orchestrated by Dean Ornish, heart disease and prostate cancer patients showed significant improvement due purely to dramatic lifestyle changes without the aid of medication or radiation treatment (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ornish08/ornish08_index.html). These improvements were, again, due to changes in the expression of the genes that show a predisposition to the disease.
The greatest selective advantage of having so many factors influence certain traits and behaviors is the enormous range of adaptability that goes along with it. Our bodies may alter the experession of their genes in the most finely-tuned of fashions to match the demands of our environments, and easier adaptation to any type of environment is a selective advantage, letting people survive and reproduce in a wide variety of locations and circumstances.
(Rachael Affenit, rachael.affenit@comcast.net)
Certain cultures can influence the types of environments where people choose to spend time, and environment can play a critical role in the genetic expression of physical traits, such as skin and hair color. In a community that routinely spends a large amount of time in the sun, its individual members are more likely to follow suit. The more ultraviolet radiation these people are exposed to, the more melanocytes in their skin are destroyed. The destruction of these cells begins a biological pathway, which leads to the release of a chemical that “turns up the volume” on the gene that produces melanin, stimulating the production of more melanin in each melanocyte, as well as the production of more of the melanocytes themselves (melanogenesis). The extra melanin and melanocytes make the skin a darker color, and protects the cells from UV radiation. The result is tanned skin. Since hair is already dead, the ultraviolet radiation merely bleaches the hair, which cannot repair itself or respond. The result of this is lighter hair (http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=180). Therefore, people who live in a community environment in which they spend a lot of time in the sun will show a tendency to have darker skin and lighter hair due to the abiotic factor of ultraviolet radiation.
ReplyDeleteCulture and lifestyle can even reverse the effects of a genetically predisposed disease. In a study orchestrated by Dean Ornish, heart disease and prostate cancer patients showed significant improvement due purely to dramatic lifestyle changes without the aid of medication or radiation treatment (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ornish08/ornish08_index.html). These improvements were, again, due to changes in the expression of the genes that show a predisposition to the disease.
The greatest selective advantage of having so many factors influence certain traits and behaviors is the enormous range of adaptability that goes along with it. Our bodies may alter the experession of their genes in the most finely-tuned of fashions to match the demands of our environments, and easier adaptation to any type of environment is a selective advantage, letting people survive and reproduce in a wide variety of locations and circumstances.
(Rachael Affenit, rachael.affenit@comcast.net)