Week 8 03/12/25

 


What did you learn this week?

This week in lab I learned much more in depth about the translation, insertion, deletion, and substitution of DNA and how it affects mutations. I learned a lot about how mutations can be good, bad, and also neutral. Before today's class I mainly thought of genetic mutations as having negative affects on people, however, I now see that mutations can have no effect. I also learned that substitution does not change or affect the amino acid, but deletion and insertion do. This is because substitution is not changing the rest of the chain, but deletion and insertion do. I was able to see this through the superhero, super villain, and average joe activity. 

Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew?

Yes, I was able to relate what I learned to what I knew. Based on previous knowledge and learning from other classes and the previous weeks of this class I was able to relate my knowledge on RNA and DNA. Today, I was able to use my knowledge of the bases of the DNA cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine and see why it is so important to understand the different when letters are being replaced to be RNA. I was able to solidify my knowledge that the U is only present in RNA base pairings through our simulation activity.

Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing?

I found the clarification of DNA and RNA clear. Also, I think that the difference of the effects of insertion and deletion vs. substitution was very clear. A part that I found confusing was the second simulation as I was not able to test it out. I think that it caused me to be a bit more confused on mutation and the base pairings and what exactly each changes to be from DNA to RNA and how they are paired. Overall, I think that was the only part that I became confused on in today's lab.

Comments

  1. Katelyn GradyMarch 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM

    Hello Madison, like you, I also thought mutations were bad. I didn't realize that mutations can be helpful in organisms to aid in survival, reproduction, and natural selection. Although they can be advantageous or disadvantageous, most mutations are neutral. The superhero, super villain, and average joe was a very simple activity/worksheet that helped me to better understand after direct instruction from the professor. I think the simulations helped me to understand more about mutations, however, I had a hard time using the simulations as first. I think it would be helpful to use these simulations in a future classroom if we all worked together on the same simulation and then they were able to experiment on their own. Great post!

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  2. Claudia WitteMarch 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM

    Hi Maddie! I really like what you wrote about mutations, I also didn't really think of positive mutations very often. I think I've just always heard "mutation" with a negative connotation so only association them with being harmful to the organism. So learning that they can be positive was definitely something new I learned this week as well. I also related our past knowledge of A, T, C, and G to this week's lab and it proved very helpful. Great job this week, have a great spring break!

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  3. MorganMarch 16, 2025 at 12:51 PM

    Hi Madison! Great post. I liked how you talked about how we learned more about mutations and how it is related to genetics; specifically the study of RNA and DNA. I think the activity did a good job of explaining the different processes as well. Have a great spring break!

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