Introduction
This project taught us genetics and how forensics work. We were given a fake murder crime report, and instructed to find which of the five suspects committed the murder. We used fingerprinting, pedigrees, ink chromatography, blood testing, genetic diseases, and karyotypes to conclude that Nancy Normal killed Carleton Comet.
Evidence Report
Content
Mutations- Mistakes in the arrangement or presence of nucleotides in DNA. These cause genetic diseases.
Complete Dominance- One trait will always be shown and the other will be recessive.
Incomplete Dominance- A third trait is made, because neither trait is dominant over the other.
Co-dominance- Both traits are shown or expressed, because they are both dominant traits.
Genetic Diseases- Inherited medical condition caused by a mutation in DNA. Many suspects had genetic diseases, we used these to identify suspects along with finding their family history.
Punnet squares- diagram used to identify the possible genotypes of offspring and the probability of each one.
Karyotype- The appearance and number of a person's chromosomes. We analyzed each suspects karyotype, to identify any chromosomal disorders.
Pedigree- a chart showing family history and genetic diseases. We used these to see which of the suspects had a genetic disease.
Point mutation- mutation that has a small effect, changing only one nucleotide.
Frameshift mutation- a large change of nucleotides, in grouping, amount, or order.
Ink chromatography- we found which suspect wrote a note using this, we used alcohol to separate the ink and the DNA strands.
Complete Dominance- One trait will always be shown and the other will be recessive.
Incomplete Dominance- A third trait is made, because neither trait is dominant over the other.
Co-dominance- Both traits are shown or expressed, because they are both dominant traits.
Genetic Diseases- Inherited medical condition caused by a mutation in DNA. Many suspects had genetic diseases, we used these to identify suspects along with finding their family history.
Punnet squares- diagram used to identify the possible genotypes of offspring and the probability of each one.
Karyotype- The appearance and number of a person's chromosomes. We analyzed each suspects karyotype, to identify any chromosomal disorders.
Pedigree- a chart showing family history and genetic diseases. We used these to see which of the suspects had a genetic disease.
Point mutation- mutation that has a small effect, changing only one nucleotide.
Frameshift mutation- a large change of nucleotides, in grouping, amount, or order.
Ink chromatography- we found which suspect wrote a note using this, we used alcohol to separate the ink and the DNA strands.
Reflection
I did well in this project. I made sure to listen to the directions and follow them correctly. When we tried to find the blood types, we correctly found the types of each suspect's blood and understood what we found. We were able to communicate our final results well with our simple slideshow. I was not responsible and organized with keeping my past work. I will continue to make my notebook more organized. One other thing I did poorly was keeping on time with deadlines. I will begin to spread my work out over a few days instead of cramming it in one day. For example, writing part of this reflection everyday would make this more accurate. I did not start writing my reflection until a week after the end of this. Writing an immediate reflection after we present would make it more accurate. For the next project, I will make sure to write my reflection earlier.