For this project, we solved a murder. This was an amazing project that I enjoyed more than anything we've done this year. We solved who murdered Carleton Comet at a dinner party with five of his friends using lots of encouraging evidence. We used DNA fingerprinting, karyotyping, fiber analysis, and pedigrees. Using all of this evidence, we were able to figure out that Nancy Normal murdered Carleton Comet in the first degree.
Physics Concepts
Chromatography: the separation of a mixture by passing it in solution through a medium where the components move at different rates.
Gene: sequence of DNA that codes for a protein and determines a trait.
Genotype: genetic makeup of an organism
Phenotype: physical characteristics of an organism
Alleles: one of a number of different forms of a gene
Dominant: has power over the recessive traits
Recessive: falls under dominant
Co-dominant: when both alleles of a gene contribute to the phenotype of the organism
Incomplete Dominant: situation in which one allele is not completely dominant over another
Polygenic: trait controlled by two or more genes
Homozygous: an organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait
Heterozygous: an organism that has two different alleles for a particular trait
Segregation: separation of alleles during gamete formation
Probability: likelihood that a particular event will occur
Gene: sequence of DNA that codes for a protein and determines a trait.
Genotype: genetic makeup of an organism
Phenotype: physical characteristics of an organism
Alleles: one of a number of different forms of a gene
Dominant: has power over the recessive traits
Recessive: falls under dominant
Co-dominant: when both alleles of a gene contribute to the phenotype of the organism
Incomplete Dominant: situation in which one allele is not completely dominant over another
Polygenic: trait controlled by two or more genes
Homozygous: an organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait
Heterozygous: an organism that has two different alleles for a particular trait
Segregation: separation of alleles during gamete formation
Probability: likelihood that a particular event will occur
Reflection
Solving this mystery was very exciting. It made us think how biology can actually impact our life and help solve important problems. Some things in this project went poorly. The ink chromatography kept getting lost so we had to keep doing it over and over. Yet, in the end, we figured it out and it helped solve our case. Another thing that went poorly was our class. A lot of the time, we weren't doing quality work because of all the class disruptions. We need a way to fix that so we have a better working and learning experience. Many things went well during this project. One was our final product. Many of the other groups had too much unimportant data in their cases, but ours was straight to the point and brief. I thought in the end this helped us get the warrant to arrest Nancy Normal. Another good thing was obtaining all of the evidence. I truly enjoyed each step and each part of evidence we got. It was interesting to see what each step led to. I learned that forensics analysis excite me and I am thinking about looking into it more for my future. Something we could've done better was after obtaining a piece of evidence, look at how it affected each suspects suspiciousness. From the beginning, we were narrowed down to Nancy Normal and then each piece of evidence was how much it proved her case. Overall, this was an amazing project and I would do it again 10/10.