GATTACA Essay

GATTACA Essay

I believe that the theme of the movie GATTACA is that the human spirit can overcome the most challenging obstacles. In the movie the main character Vincent goes to extremes to follow his dream such as having surgeries, learning to write right handed, and basically give up his identity to become someone else just so he can have a shot at being able to go into space and fulfill his dreams. In the movie Vincent’s parents decide to not genetically modify Vincent before he is born even though that is the normal thing to do in the time that they live in. When he was born the doctors took a blood sample and from that they predicted that Vincent would have many health issues including a weak heart. The doctors were able to predict that he would probably live to the age of thirty. As Vincent grew up he would try to get jobs but they wouldn't accept him because of his bad genes. it didn't really matter how qualified for the job he was the would always run a gene test and the wouldn't accept him because of all his medical issues. the only work he could get was being a custodian at GATTACA. Vincent had loved to learn about space and astronomy since he was very young so he had a deep passion to work at GATTACA. In order to work there he had to swap identities with someone names Jerome to even have a chance to work at GATTACA. To do so he had to undergo a surgery to make himself as tall as Jerome, he had to learn to write right handed, he had to wear contacts instead of his glasses, he also has to perform a complicated daily routine so he doesn't get caught. He eventually ends up fulfilling his dream of going into space. I believe that the theme of this story is that the human spirit can overcome even the most challenging obstacles  

A Matter of Selection

I believe that the reason there are so much domestic variability in brassica oleracea because we can genetically modify the genes (which is related to selective breeding) of each plant to make billions of variations of the original plant. When they use artificial selection on the plants the could create a whole new plant. also the have come in contact with many different biomes and ecosystems of the world and so if two of the same plant ate in different ecosystems the two plants will adapt differently.the will also adapt with different mutations corresponding to the environment.

One of a Kind

Ancestral Brassica Oleracea

    We are currently experimenting with Romanesco. Our broccoli is definitely starting to take its shape. If i could say anything about our plants parents, it would be that they start out pretty small and leafy. We could decide what our plant would have by seeing its chromosome, if we had the tool for it. They would get these traits by probability or the dominance that the mother or father had. The plant will pass its genetic information to the next plant generation by the dominance or recessive trait that it has. They will most likely look like their parents. 

    All the broccoli plants look different because they all have different traits that were given to them from their parents. The Brassica must have mated with all different kind of plants to make so many different species. 

    

Living or Not

Plants are living. Our plants have grown a lot from when we first planted them. They started out really small and weak but have gotten stronger and larger. Some characteristics of living things is they grow, reproduce, react to their environment, and are made up of cells. Plants also share these characteristics. Plants react to their environment just like humans do. For example, if you over water the plant it will start to droop. This happens because the plant cells get too full of water and burst, making the plant unable to support itself.

Analysis of the Garden and our Plants

 Some of the abiotic factors that our plant depend on for survival, are sunlight, temperature, and the amount of water it gets. The biotic factors that affect the plant include animals and other plants. Our plants are in competition with the larger plants around it. Our plants are a little smaller than the others so it has to compete for sunlight and space. Usually the way “winners” and “losers” are determined is by size. The larger plants over power the smaller ones, and the smaller ones end up not surviving. However, it doesn't always happen that way, it depends on the plants and the environment. Another type of interaction is plant and animal interaction. Animals like caterpillars use the plants for food. This can affect the plant by making it weaker. Succession is the process of change in an ecological community. I think in our garden secondary succession is happening.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

   Our plant is definitely getting bigger and adding biomass day by day. It is also using mitosis because it is making cells for the plant to use. It is also using photosynthesis, to not only make energy for itself, but to also make food. Lastly, it uses cellular respiration to release energy that it has used, back into the atmosphere to make a cycle. 
   Since enzymes belong to the protein category, it would most likely be easy for them to start mitosis. Enzymes are catalysts, so the process can go by very fast. The enzymes can go quickly back to the nucleus to help. 

Characteristics of a Plant

   So far our plant is doing very well. It is growing bigger and bigger each time we visit. Our plant is in fact living because it has almost all the characteristics. A characteristic that it has is that it made up of cells. All living things are made of cells, including us. Another characteristic is that it grows and develops over time. We can tell it grows because the size only gets larger. A last one is that it uses and obtains energy. We know that because it uses a process called photosynthesis to capture sunlight/energy to make food for itself.