The Project
This project was a murder mystery. We were given a crime report of Carelton Comet's death, and with that we had to use forensic science to solve the mystery. This project lasted a few weeks, beginning with learning how to take fingerprints to comparing DNA to different suspects to making an accusation and requesting a warrant from a grand jury. Using our results, we concluded that Nancy Normal committed the murder of Carelton Comet. The presentation below shows how and why we were able to declare her guilty of first-degree murder.
Presentation
Content
Genetic Engineering - Using technology to alter the genome of an organism to benefit human use.
Genetic Disease - A disease caused by a mutation in our DNA.
Punnet Squares - A diagram used to assess the probability of an offspring's traits based on the alleles of the parents.
Pedigree - A diagram that uses the family tree of an individual to show a persons risk of certain genetic disorder.
Karyotype - A diagram that displays the chromosomes of an individual. It can be used to identify chromosomal disorders.
Ink chromatography - A method of separating out materials from a mixture. Ink is a mixture of several dyes and therefore we can separate those colors from one another using chromatography. When ink is exposed to certain solvents the colors dissolve and can be separated out.
Heredity:
Complete Dominance - When a trait is completely dominant over another.
Incomplete Dominance - When one allele does not completely dominate the another allele, and therefore results in a new phenotype.
Co-dominance - When both alleles are expressed equally, neither allele is dominant or recessive.
Mutations:
Genetic Mutation - A mistake in our genome, may be harmless, or may cause a genetic disease.
Substitution - A type of point mutation where a single nucleotide is switched out for another.
Insertion - A point mutation where a random nucleotide is added to the sequence.
Point mutation - A mutation where only a single nucleotide is changed.
Deletion - A point mutation where a random nucleotide is added.
Genetic Disease - A disease caused by a mutation in our DNA.
Punnet Squares - A diagram used to assess the probability of an offspring's traits based on the alleles of the parents.
Pedigree - A diagram that uses the family tree of an individual to show a persons risk of certain genetic disorder.
Karyotype - A diagram that displays the chromosomes of an individual. It can be used to identify chromosomal disorders.
Ink chromatography - A method of separating out materials from a mixture. Ink is a mixture of several dyes and therefore we can separate those colors from one another using chromatography. When ink is exposed to certain solvents the colors dissolve and can be separated out.
Heredity:
Complete Dominance - When a trait is completely dominant over another.
Incomplete Dominance - When one allele does not completely dominate the another allele, and therefore results in a new phenotype.
Co-dominance - When both alleles are expressed equally, neither allele is dominant or recessive.
Mutations:
Genetic Mutation - A mistake in our genome, may be harmless, or may cause a genetic disease.
Substitution - A type of point mutation where a single nucleotide is switched out for another.
Insertion - A point mutation where a random nucleotide is added to the sequence.
Point mutation - A mutation where only a single nucleotide is changed.
Deletion - A point mutation where a random nucleotide is added.
Reflection
I learned a lot about forensic science and genetics during this project. For forensics, we learned how to collect evidence, and we learned about procedures police go through at a crime scene. This includes collecting everything from fingerprints to fine hairs and taking pictures. All those pieces of evidence are then taken to a lab, and with forensic science we are able to solve cases. As for genetics, we learned about different fingerprints, pedigrees, karyotypes, chromosomal disorder, genetic diseases, and blood typing and sequencing. I still would like to cover more about chromosomal disorders, as we didn't get as much time with that topic as the others. I think our group stayed on task very well. We were a small group of three and fairly quiet and productive, so our work was accomplished quickly and efficiently. We were able to manage our time so that we would have enough time to make a good, well thought out presentation. The only thing I would do differently next time would be to contribute more ideas by taking on a leadership role. Overall, this project was one of the most fun of the year, and I learned a lot of new and interesting information.