Today, I was contemplating why this class is significant for my future career. Yes, I am a Biology Major and this is required, but what else could I gain from this class? Turns out this class not only deals with the theory of development, but we also converse about the political aspects – for example we touched upon the topic how the U.S. Judge ruled against President Barack Obama’s Stem Cell Policy – as it violates the federal money exploited to destroy embryos. Moreover, we discussed ethical outlooks – for example, whether cloning should be performed, regarding whether homosexuality is genetic or a choice, whether abortion is okay before 24 weeks since the fetus cannot feel pain, due to the connections from the periphery to cortex not fully developed, whether an XY female is still considered…female, and whether she would be able to marry. Looking back, we did touch on a lot of topics within this topic which made it even more interesting. I never thought I would enjoy this class this much. At first I was excited for this class because I am really fascinated about how abnormalities occur such as conjoined twins, hermaphrodites, parasitic twins, progeria etc. But now, I feel that this class has opened my eyes more, to realize how lucky I am to be a healthy individual, and how intricately God fashioned us in His own image – from a bunch of cells to a whole functioning organism.
*****
Reflections 2
I enjoy this class, and it is very relevant for my future as I would obtain a better understanding for the malformations of development. We had recently completed a chapter which dealt with the cell to cell communication. It was very interesting how cells have a particular ‘fate’. What they are going to become…kind of like us right? …did I just related myself to a cell?…Anyway, the intricate movements of the cells, so that our fingers can be placed on the ends of our hands, and our eyes positioned laterally on our face and not elsewhere. So many opportunities for something to go wrong, but in the end we luckily turn out healthy.
Another aspect of this class I like are the labs…although they are at 8 in the morning, and it’s hard to get out of a warm bed straight into this cold weather. In lad, we observed the fertilization of sea urchin eggs and also viewed how several factors can affect the fertilization and development of the sea urchin. To collect the gametes from the sea urchins, potassium chloride was injected around the oral region of the urchin. To be honest, I used to completely hate injections…the anticipation of that single prick is more painful than the actual prick. They say it is like a mosquito bite…no its not!! And just before coming to university, I had to take a bunch of vaccinations…needless to say, I wasn’t very content. But I digress, I thought it would be interesting to be the injector instead of the ‘injectee’…poor sea urchin was my first victim…sorry. Well I better get used to it, I will have to do this loads of times in the future. Well, I told Dr. V this is my first time using the needle, and she helped me out so I didn’t hurt the poor thing too much. It is very interesting how the injection of potassium chloride is extremely harmful for us, but not much so for sea urchins (of course over-dosage can kill). Injecting potassium chloride into a vein or artery can cause an electrical imbalance in the heart or in the brain resulting in death...did I say this is my first time performing an injection? The potassium chloride stimulates contractions of the gonadal wall; so ripe gametes emerge from the gonopores. If it was a creamy-white color it was male, and if the secretions were orange-red, the sea urchin was female.
It was an experience…injecting sea urchins. I hope my technique improves…since I will hopefully be working on humans later. :)
