Daily Positivity

The world’s first genetically edited baby or in fact babies are born! Isn’t that surprising! But first, we need to know if this is true or fake. This blog summarizes the new controversy about the Chinese Professor, He Jiunki, who claims that he has successfully edited faulty genes in twins. This all started on the 28th of November 2018 when Professor Jiankui at the Genome Summit in Hong Kong announced that he was successful in editing the genes of twin girls. The father of the twins was HIV positive whereas the mother was HIV negative. The twins were at the risk of inheriting HIV. However, Professor Jiankui with the use of the CRISPR/ CAS9 technology was able to reduce the twin’s risk of inheriting HIV. CRISPR/CAS9 is a gene found in the bacteria which is known for cutting the default gene. When bacterias are infected with a virus, they use this gene to “cut” the DNA of a harmful virus. This gene is used to delete the mutated 1 gene and add the donor gene. The mutated gene is cut b...

Inheritance of IQ By: Riya Naik Abstract: Genes are crucial for the development of any living organism on the Earth. They contain information which aids in protein synthesis. These proteins are important for the normal functioning of the body. Genes are inherited from the parents through the DNA. The offspring inherits one chromosome from each parent. However, the main question is whether the genes control the inheritance of the way a person thinks. Intelligence Quotient, also known as the IQ, is the measurement of the reasoning skills and intelligence of a person. This experiment was designed to determine whether the IQ is an inherited factor. A parent and an offspring were asked to take an IQ test. The scores were used as a determining factor of whether IQ was inherited. Introduction: Intelligence Quotient, or the IQ, is a measurement of the intelligence a person possesses which is used to resolve quotidian complications. The IQ can be determined by taking an IQ test and...

When we hear RNAs many of us think about it as some cell organelles that produce proteins. Or perhaps, some people do not know what an RNA is. Its main function is to produce proteins; however, it has many functions. But how does a small RNA translate proteins which are essential for the survival of the humans? These RNAs are always neglected and they deserve some attention for the enormous work they do. So let us begin with the “Central Dogma of Biology”. Many biology students dread it; however, it is an important concept we should understand. It all begins with our good old friend DNA. In my opinion, it is the king in our bodies. It contains our genes! So the DNA in the nucleus of the cell to be specific in the nucleolus transcribes an mRNA or the messenger RNA. To transcribe an mRNA the DNA initially has to replicate itself. To transcribe means to copy a DNA strand to produce RNA and this is the first step in gene expression. The DNA has two complementary strands that are sepa...

The human body has evolved over the course of million years to perform highly complex mechanisms which are essential for its normal functioning in addition to complex mechanisms like thinking logically and the development of the language. These mechanisms include the development of the signaling in the nervous system which helps in responding to the stimuli, metabolism to provide energy for carrying out other functions in the body, understanding, and thinking, being able to communicate and even a simple task as holding something which is possible because of the development of the thumb. Ever thought how these developed? It all starts with our good old friends- Primates.  Evidence for this theory can be the mitochondrial difference of 99% between the chimpanzee and the humans. The mitochondrion is the organelle in the cell which is responsible for the cellular respiration. It produces energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). As the mitochondria contain their own DNA, ...

Date: August 28, 2018 Industry Visited: FreeThink             35 Northeast Industrial Road, 2nd floor, Branford, CT 06405             On August 28, 2018, I had this wonderful opportunity to visit FreeThink Technologies, Branford, CT. My father, Gautam Naik, knew the President and the founder of FreeThink, Ken Waterman through LinkedIn. He scheduled a visit to the labs of FreeThink to allow me to gain an exposure to a lab environment.             Basically, FreeThink is into drug and other stability determination in short times by advanced testing and mathematical modeling. They have developed a software called the ASAP prime®(Accelerated Stability Assessment Program) to allow them to rapidly model the stability of medicines and evaluate the product shelf life. It is claimed that the software enables the sc...

Consent of the subject to determine whether IQ is inherited or not Hello __________________ This is Riya. Hope you are doing great. I am doing a Research project for which I need your help. Can I request you and your child to take a small test which will help me correlate data into some conclusions? I appreciate your participation in helping my research work. Thanking you. Synopsis: Genes are crucial for the development of any living organism on the Earth. They contain information which aids in protein synthesis. These proteins are important for the normal functioning of the body. Genes are inherited from the parents through the DNA. The offspring inherits one chromosome from each parent. However, the main question is whether the genes control the inheritance of the way a person thinks. Intelligence Quotient, also known as the IQ, is the measurement of the reasoning skills and intelligence of a person. This experiment was designed to determine whether the IQ is an inh...

Recently, there have been a lot of speculations about stem cells and their ethicality. The main question is: “Is it ethical to kill an embryo in order to procure stem cells where that embryo has a potential to grow into a human being?” To answer this question we first need to understand what are stem cells? What benefits do they provide us with? What are some disadvantages associated? Can they be used to treat a person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness like cancer or an organ failure?   So let us begin with some basics. Stem cells are pluripotent cells, that is, they have an ability to develop into an organism. A zygote, product of a sperm and an ovum fusion, is a classic example of an undifferentiated stem cell. A zygote is a single undifferentiated cell which divides itself to form an embryo. The undifferentiated cells found in an embryo are called the Embryonic stem cells. As the embryo enters its eighth week it is called as a fetus. Here, the stem cells begin...

Abstract: Genes are crucial for the development of any living organism on the Earth. They contain information which aids in protein synthesis. These proteins are important for the normal functioning of the body. Genes are inherited from the parents through the DNA. The offspring inherits one chromosome from each parent. However, the main question is whether the genes control the inheritance of the way a person thinks. Intelligence Quotient, also known as the IQ, is the measurement of the reasoning skills and intelligence of a person. This experiment was designed to determine whether the IQ is an inherited factor. A parent and an offspring were asked to take an IQ test. The scores were used as a determining factor of whether IQ was inherited. Introduction: Intelligence Quotient, or the IQ, is a measurement of the intelligence a person possesses which is used to resolve quotidian complications. The IQ can be determined by taking an IQ test and calculating the score which ...

This is just to update you that my school, Rocky Hill High School, has selected me to enroll in National Honors Society which is a prestigious organization which helps students to secure recognization for the future career and endeavors.

I believe that the first day at school in my sophomore year was a career influencing factor for me. I had enrolled myself for honors biology class. Every upperclassman I knew warned me the instructor of the class, Mr. DeBacco was a “Hard Quiz Giver”, “Tough Grader” and getting a good grade in that class is tantamount to finding God on Earth. Okay. So the first slideshow for the class started with the title, “Day 1: What did I get myself into?” I will be honest I was nervous after reading this. Moreover, he gave us a quiz on the very first day of class. The pace of the class was hard to keep up with. Mr. DeBacco emphasized on paying attention to specific details on the slideshows. The first lab of the class was Seed Germination. We were expected to write a full and academic lab report. I had never written this type of lab report. Thus. I did what a normal teenager of the Google Era would do. I looked it up and started writing my lab report. I admit that it was the hardest writing I e...

Fasten your seatbelts! Today I am going to take you all on my wonderful journey from India to the United States. India is  a country of  thousands years of civilization and culture. I am proud that I was born in India despite various lacunae in public and civil life. I love my city Pune which is also known as the Oxford of East with great climate and culture. I went to Abhinava Vidyalaya English Medium School in Pune. I had many friends at school and society complex where I spent most of childhood. Childhood is wonderful time without any worries, cocooned by parents, pampered by a big family. I used to play tennis for hours at a local club called Solaris. My parents signed me up when I was just a seven year old. It was nice playing out there. As India is a tropical country there was no problem of snow and the winters were usually warm. The minimum temperature in winters in my hometown, Pune, was 69 degrees Fahrenheit. So I used to play tennis all year round. Along with tenn...