These two major themes are true. We are all the same and we are all different.


   The Human Genome Project actually proves that there are small differences between our genetic informations. We are a big family. I think there should be no place for racism and definitely there cannot be a thought of 'genetically superior' people. All whites all blacks all jews are the same even though their appearances are different. That is because the slight differences occurring in their genes. All people should definitely deserve equal esteem as human beings!

TOK

''Since extraction of cells from an unborn baby is an invasive procedure, there is a risk that it may harm the child or even cause a miscarriage. Doctors and parents-to-be must consider which is more important, finding out if the baby has a chromosomal anomaly or providing safe conditions for its development without any extraction of cells.''

   When we think about it; of course parents wouldn't want anything that can harm their baby but when it comes to chromosomal diseases it is necessary to take some precautionary steps. The doctor decides whether there's a ''need'' to do a karyotype but she/he cannot decide whether to do it or not because it is a huge responsibility. Parents need to decide if they should risk the baby's safeness in order to know if the baby's healthy or not. This is completely the parents' decision. The only thing a doctor can do is to say if it is necessary or not. Also it is completely parents' decision to keep the babies or abort the babies which present chromosomal anomalies.The doctor should only tell the chances and the situation. The decisions about the baby belongs to the parents.
     If I find out that my baby has some chromosomal anomalies, I wouldn't put her/him in a very different position than other healthy babies but I would know that if I give birth to that baby, it will be a hard life for him/her and for me because it is not easy to know that your child has chromosomal anomalies before she/he was born. I don't know what that feeling is like now but I think that I would give birth to him/her anyway because still she/he's my baby.

Works Cited

Damon, Alan, Randy McGonegal et al. Standard Level Biology. Pearson Baccalaureate:2007.Text.

First of all I would like to explain both of the diseases so we can get the relation well...:)

Sickle Cell Anemia:

The sickle cell mutation is a like a typographical error in the DNA code of the gene that tells the body how to make a form of hemoglobin (Hb), the oxygen-carrying molecule in our blood. Every person has two copies of the hemoglobin gene. Usually, both genes make a normal hemoglobin protein. When someone inherits two mutant copies of the hemoglobin gene, the abnormal form of the hemoglobin protein causes the red blood cells to lose oxygen and warp into a sickle shape during periods of high activity. These sickled cells become stuck in small blood vessels, causing a "crisis" of pain, fever, swelling, and tissue damage that can lead to death. This is sickle cell anemia.


Malaria:

Malaria is a potentially fatal blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted to human and animal hosts by the Anopheles mosquito. The human parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is dangerous not only be cause it digests the red blood cell's hemoglobin, but also because it changes the adhesive properties of the cell it inhabits. This change in turn causes the cell to stick to the walls of blood vessels. It becomes especially dangerous when the infected blood cells stick to the capillaries in the brain, obstructing blood flow, a condition called cerebral malaria. Scientists using the x-ray microscope are hoping to learn more about the how the parasite infects and disrupts the blood cells and the blood vessels of an infected host.

So these diseases have a special relationship between them. They don't actually 'cause' each other but if a person's cells inherit a sickle cell gene this makes him resistant for the malaria disease ;it is an advantageous position. So the relation between sickle cell anemia and malaria is an example of correlation without causation. One copy of the gene is beneficial. If a person has one copy of the gene their offspring has a %50 chance of receiving a one copy of the gene and become lucky.However these carriers are naturally selected. 


Work Cited


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sickle-cell-and-malaria.html.Web.Feb 12,2012
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/2/l_012_02.html. Web. Feb 12,2012
http://www.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/xfiles/malariawhatis.html Web. Feb 12, 2012

*

Does everyone share the responsibility of conserving and protecting natural areas around the world? What is more important--protecting nature or protecting the livelihoods of people with jobs like farming, cutting down trees for wood, building new hospitals, schools, etc.?

 


     Both protecting nature and protecting the livelihoods of those people are important. While I was reading the question I said that nature is more important right off but then I saw hospitals and schools in the other sentence and I stopped for a moment. We have to protect the nature because we can not exist if nature is not healty enough to support us. On the other hand we have to build some hospitals or school or we need a home and for all of these things we need to support those people's jobs. I think people can find a way that doesnt hurt the nature too much and at the same time give us the source for the living places.However if people ''accidently'' break the nature's balance it will be impossible to bring it back that's why we have to be very careful.Otherwise we have to see the consequences.Best Example: ''Global Warming.'' We have to take caution before it is too late.

BIOMASS

In order to measure biomass, destructive techniques are used. Trees are cut down and plants are destroyed. Is this unethical?

*Yes. I think it is unethical. People are cutting trees and then dry them out to measure their biomass. Okay. But do they bring those trees back? No. They are cutting them on some purpose but that can affect nature's balance and it can definitely affect global warming. I think before it is too late, they should find a solution for that. Every single tree is valuable during these days. For example; in the past people were ''killing'' animals in order to get their biomass. But nowadays, the found a solution and they don't have to kill anymore. I think they should find a solution for trees too.

''It is not practical (and unethical in a park) to cut down large trees for biomass measurements.Therefore, trees require a different set of methods for biomass data collection. Forest ecologists regularly use allometric equations that relate a simple, non-destructive measurement such as tree diameter (DBH) to stem, branch and foliage mass, foliage area, and tree height.''

Citation: Biology 3700: Ecosystem and Community Ecology 2011<http://classes.uleth.ca/201103/biol3700a/Lab%20Information/Lab%201/Biol3700%20Lab1%202011.pdf>

TOK

''UNESCO organized a symposium on the scientific status of race in 1952. The declaration was made that all men come from a common stock and belong to a single species. Insignificant differences between them give no support to claim of racial hierarchy.''

-Was the UNESCO symposium correct in its statement that the differences between humans around the world are insignificant?


*I think that this statement is correct because scientists explained that all human beings come from the same ancestor. Race and racisim is all about the different religions, beliefs, life styles and living spaces. UNESCO is right to sat that insignificant differences between them give no support to claim of racial hierarcy because the biologhy aspect of the situation really has nothing to the do with racisim. I think that it is all about the classification we wanted to make and it is our creation. Of course there might be some differences between humans but it is not a support for racisim.