Stop War

Nowadays wars are a problem that affects both our life and our wold globally. It's a problem that has existed for lots of hundreds of years, but in consequence of the important improvements in weapons (fire weapons, nuclear weapons...) it has became much easier and efficient to kill more people with less effort.
Most of the people suffering from wars are those who do not have the way to protect themselves from attackers, and this usually coincides with poor countries or those that are also named as underdeveloped.
Some of the main reasons for wars to start can be religion, race or (of course) money. Important people of the richer countries are the ones who take advantages from war, and the media usually tries to hide the horrific things that happen in other countries, so as they are far, and we are not shown what's happening but we have to look for it to inform ourselves appropriately, we tend to do as if nothing was happening.
I think that the first thing we should do to stop wars it's to concern people about what happens everyday in our world, and after doing that, show them that if everyone made a little effort we could make a big change.

3RD TERM

We are starting the third (and last) term. We'll be dealing with topics such as climate change and the european union.
Climate change is a really important issue that affects our planet and concerns less people than it should. We've got just one Earth planet and people should be aware of the importance of taking care of it, because if we reach the point of destroying it (more) we'll see ourselves without a place to live in.
The topic of the European Union, in my opinion, is less interesting than the one about the climate change, but it also has got it's importance. As I don't know much about it, I think that I'll learn new things and that at the end I'll like it.

Genetic Changes

GENETIC CHANGES IN HUMANS

What is a "genetic change"?

A genetic change may also be called a “mutation,” a “variant” or a “gene change.”Genetic changes may occur at the large-scale level, causing genetical errors (an extra chromosome – for example, in Down syndrome).

There can also be extra or missing sections of the chromosome (deletions or duplications), These are also called copy number variants (Copy-number variatiants (CNVs) are structural variations of the chromosomes. These alterations result in the body's cells having a difference in the number of copies of one (or more) sections of DNA).

There can also be changes in the genetic code at the DNA level that affect just one gene (you may have heard of sickle cell disease or cystic fibrosis, for example).

What is a gene mutation and how do mutations occur?

A gene mutation is a permanent alteration in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene, such that the sequence differs from what is found in most people. Mutations range in size; they can affect anywhere from a single DNA building block (base pair) to a large segment of a chromosome that includes multiple genes.

Gene mutations can be classified in two major ways:

• Hereditary mutations are inherited from a parent and are present throughout a person’s life in virtually every cell in the body. When an egg and a sperm cell unite, the resulting fertilized egg cell receives DNA from both parents. If this DNA has a mutation, the child that grows from the fertilized egg will have the mutation in each of his or her cells.
• Acquired (or somatic) mutations occur at some time during a person’s life and are present only in certain cells, not in every cell in the body. These changes can be caused by environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation from the sun, or can occur if a mistake is made as DNA copies itself during cell division. Acquired mutations cannot be passed on to the next generation.

Genetic changes that are described as de novo (new) mutations can be either hereditary or somatic. In some cases, the mutation occurs in a person’s egg or sperm cell but is not present in any of the person’s other cells. In other cases, the mutation occurs in the fertilized egg shortly after the egg and sperm cells unite. As the fertilized egg divides, each resulting cell in the growing embryo will have the mutation. De novo mutations may explain genetic disorders in which an affected child has a mutation in every cell in the body but the parents do not, and there is no family history of the disorder.

Somatic mutations that happen in a single cell early in embryonic development can lead to a situation called mosaicism. These genetic changes are not present in a parent’s egg or sperm cells, or in the fertilized egg, but happen a bit later when the embryo includes several cells. Depending on the mutation and how many cells are affected, mosaicism may or may not cause health problems.

Most disease-causing gene mutations are uncommon in the general population. However, other genetic changes occur more frequently. Genetic alterations that occur in more than 1 percent of the population are called polymorphisms. They are common enough to be considered a normal variation in the DNA. Polymorphisms are responsible for many of the normal differences between people such as eye color, hair color, and blood type, so they are what make us be different from each others. Although many polymorphisms have no negative effects on a  person’s health, some of these variations may influence the risk of developing certain disorders.

How does a mutation affect us?

In biology, a mutation is a permanent alteration of the nucleotide sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA or other genetic elements. Mutations result from damage to DNA which is not repaired, errors in the process of replication, or from the insertion or deletion of segments of DNA by mobile genetic elements. Mutations may or may not produce discernible changes in the observable characteristics (phenotype) of an organism. We can suffer different types of mutations and some of them are benefitial for us, but others aren't. They play a part in both normal and abnormal biological processes such as evolution, cancer, and the development of the immune system.

Here you can see a video with some of the rarest mutations in humans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSqXjqIclAI

GENETIC CHANGES IN FOOD

Not all the genetic changes or mutations are in human. Food is usually modified to improve its taste or looking. They also modify de DNA fruits or vegetables not to have seeds so that eating them is more easy or any kind of fresh food hold more time without getting rotted.
Genetically modified foods or GM foods, also genetically engineered foods, are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits than previous methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.

Commercial sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Calgene first marketed its Flavr Savr delayed-ripening tomato. Most food modifications have primarily focused on cash crops in high demand by farmers such as soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. Genetically modified crops have been engineered for resistance to pathogens and herbicides and for better nutrient profiles. GM livestock have been developed, although as of November 2013 none were on the market. 

There is general scientific agreement that food from genetically modified crops is not inherently riskier to human health than conventional food. However, there are ongoing public concerns related to food safety, regulation, labelling, environmental impact, research methods, and the fact that some GM seeds are subject to intellectual property rights owned by corporations.

You can find more information related with the topic of genetics in our webpage:

http://geneticseleanitza.weebly.com​

Migration in the Basque Country

In the past, there was quite a lot of emigration in the Basque Country as it has been considered as a poor country, for that single reason there are many Basque Associations around the world. The biggest concentration is in South America, in Argentina for example there are over 80.

Nowadays, the opposite happens, since the 1960s there's more people immigrating than people emigrating. During the XXth century the biggest part of the immigrants were Spanish, for that reason there are many from Extremadura, for example, in towns like Lasarte, Errenteria etc.

In the Basque country the biggest immigrant group is from Marocco, and the second from Rumania.

Genetics webpage

The next project we are working on will be creating a webpage in groups. We are now working on this webpage where we deal with subjects related to the main topic. Our groups webpage's subject is genetics, DNA changes, genetics ingeneering...

Click here to go to the webpage

2nd TERM

In this second term we'll deal with subjects such as medicine, health, genetics... All this are subjects which I have a very poor knowledge about even if are topics that concern me.
I think this term will be more interesting than the first one because I like more the topics we will work with, even if at the end I learnt things I didn't know and can be useful for my future.

Evolution stages of hominids

1.There are two main theories about the creation of humans we are going to talk about.

2.The first one is Adan & Eve's which is the religious one from the point of view of the Christians. This theory explains that god created the first human (Adan) and then from his rib he created Eve. They lived in heaven.

3.The other theory we would like to talk about is the scientific one. This explains that at the begining we all were bacterias and how we went evoluting until we reached what we are now.

4.So why have we evolved? In each generation, the structure of our DNA changes because we adapt to environment. For example, the monkey suffered some changes because of its moment's nature and then Australopithecus appeared.

5.Darwin's theory (the natural selection) explains that the strongest species survive, this means that the specie that adapts the best to its moment's environment is more likely to survive. 

We suffer genetic mutations, which are adantages, and these are inherited by our descendants. This is why we change or mutate.

6.The first Australopithecus appeared in Ethiopia. First they expanded all over Africa and then moved to Asia, Europe, Oceania and North and South America. Actually humans live all around the world.

7.Lucy was the first hominid that was found by us, humans. It was found in Ethiopia (Africa). It is an early female australopithecus, and it is about 3.2 million years old. We don't have her full skeleton kept, we have its %40. She was bipedal.

8.The main differences between the first hominids and us (humans) are...

We now:

  -have  a bigger brain

  -walk in an upright position

  -don't use hands to walk

  -have  a smaller jaw

9.Australopithecus Afarensis.

  They lived for 1 million years, and during that period they didn't suffer any changes or mutations. However, when that period ended they suffered a change, which made this type of hominid mutate and become another hominid. The Australopithecus changed because of the cold climate, which decrease their standard of living.

10.Homo Habilis.

This specie is known for their hability to make new things. They were the first human being making tools and they used wood, bones and rocks to made them. They are considered the last monkey of the human's evolution proccess, and all the following species are considered as humans.

11. The homo habilis was also the first human making and controling fire. This was a really important progress because the were able to cook the meat, so that they could avoid getting ill, and to protect themselves from wild animals. They used to make fire with two sticks or two rocks.

 hominid is well-known because it was the first hominid to walk in an upright position. It also improved the tools that the Homo Habilis used (their previous generation).

12.Homo Erectus.

  This hominid is well-known because it was the first hominid to walk in an upright position. It also improved the tools that the Homo Habilis used (their previous generation).

13.Homo Neanderthalensis.

  They lived in Europe 200,000 years ago. They were smaller than Homo Sapiens. They had large nasal cavities and skulls.

14.They lived in groups, in small villages. They built houses, which were usually made of bones, but they could also be built of wood. They buried their dead relatives.

15.They are famous because they were the first hominids that started to paint, inside of caves. They started to paint people, but later they changed the theme to animals they hunted, such as bisons.

16.They used caves as canvas, hands as paintbrushes and some materials (animals' blood, coal, animals' fat/grease...) as paint.

17. Homo Sapiens.

This specie is almost what we are now. The main change has been the increase on our brains size and capacity. They started to use their brain more than their ancestors, what made it adapt. 

18. Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

This is the actual specie. The difference between us and all the species who lived before is that our brain has an incredible capacity, and that we know how to use it. While we have developed, we have learnt new things and we have developed technology. 

19. Homo Lex.

Some people think we'll have bigger eyes and brain. The reason of the increase on our eye's size is not clear, but our brain will be bigger because as we will keep on using it, it's capacity will also increase.

20.The language is claimed to be the biggest problem in science. Scientists know that they communicated making weird sounds, but they don't know which hominid was the first one to creat an official language yet.