Our white board looked like this by the end of class:
As you can see, we drew the double helix and labeled hydrogen bonds, nitrogen bonds, ATGC, and nucleotides.
Jump into the Gene Pool
Chapter 6 of Survival of the Sickest was about evolution that occurs inside our body, rather than the more popular view of outside evolution.
It discussed how less than 3% of the DNA in our body is used to make proteins, and the rest (non coding DNA) comes from parasites that actually assist in shaping our evolution.
Internal evolution is caused by slight mutations that, although most of the time are harmful, can sometimes result in beneficial adaptations for the body and then can be passed down through natural selection. Mutations are not random: they occur when the sequences of DNA change slightly, when the body is under stress. Jumping genes come in and delete or replicate genes to adapt to the stress, and this is when the sequences get changed and mutations occur. Our body changes its genes in hopes of beneficial mutations. Viruses, which make up some of the noncoding DNA, assist this mutations by grabbing onto areas in which the body believes are more likely for beneficial mutations. Once a beneficial mutation occurs, the body passes on the mutation through natural selection so that its offspring can have a higher survival and reproduction rate.
Thus, through non-random mutations and the assistance of parasites, our body is able to evolve internally.
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