Alexis ueio

Science- 4
S814
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!%*("),- If tiisecteu, which piece of a planaiian will iegeneiate fiist.

./!*+.)0&0- If tiisecteu, then the miusection will iegeneiate fiist.

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Planaiia aie flatwoims that can iepiouuce sexually. Because they aie
12345613789:2;, any two planaiia can iepiouuce togethei. This means that all
planaiia contain both male anu female <7=58;. When planaiians iepiouuce sexually
they line up with theii unueisiues facing each othei anu exchange speim. Then, both
go anu lay theii eggs sepaiately. This pioceuuie helps to contiibute to <2=2:9>
89?23;9:@, because the offspiing has the genes of both paients.

When conuitions aie less than iueal, planaiia can iepiouuce 5;2AB5CC@.
Planaiia cling to a suiface using theii selia, noimally a iock in the wilu, anu move
the anteiioi foiwaiu while tightening the muscles of the posteiioi. This cieates to
sepaiate planaiia anu this piocess is calleu D:59C 837669=<E. Similai to
F35<42=:5:97=, when the planaiia splits into moie than two pieces. In the wilu, this
can be an auvantage when planaiian can't finu a mate, oi conuitions aie haish.
Though it can also be a weakness, because asexual iepiouuction cieates genetic
>C7=2;. When theie is a lack of genetic uiveisity, the species is in uangei because it
is moie likely to become extinct uue to uisease oi othei causes.

Planaiia iepiouuce asexually by iegeneiation. About Su% of a planaiian's
cells aie =27GC5;:;, anu theiefoie :7:967:2=:, meaning they can become any neeueu
cell. This is helpful when aftei asexual iepiouuction, the neoblasts use cell migiation
to foim GC5;:245 anu new tissue giowth. 0sing theii 67C539:@, oi heautail
oiientation, they foim the missing tissues thiough >2CC 89FF232=:95:97=. 0nce
iegeneiation is complete, the planaiian may continue its life. With this infoimation I
was able to hypothesize that the miusection woulu iegeneiate fiist, because it coulu
still eat, anu theiefoie gain eneigy.











Gero, Alexis Thursday, May 8, 2014 9:49:20 AM Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:f1:a3
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In this lab, we tiisecteu a planaiia to finu which piece of planaiian woulu
iegeneiate fiist. I hypothesizeu that the miusection woulu be the fiist to iegeneiate.
Ny uata shows that by uay six, ghost tissue on the posteiioi hau begun giowing a
heau, anu by uay nine it was completely iegeneiateu. Also by uay nine, the
miusection hau giown eyes anu hau staiteu to giow oiacles, though the anteiioi hau
uieu on its own. In oui fouith peiiou class, SS% hau the miusection iegeneiate fiist.
Compaieu to the seventh giaue, which hau 49% of miusection pieces iegeneiate
fiist. This shows that my hypothesis was coiiect about half the time foi the seventh
giaue, but was incoiiect foi my gioups anu class uata. In conclusion, planaiia will
iegeneiate when tiisecteu anu in my gioup the posteiioi iegeneiateu fiist, though
the majoiity of the time the miusection will be fiist.

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I uo not think that my iesults weie valiu, because of many unieliable factois.
Fiist of all, in my own gioup, the anteiioi uieu, anu theiefoie nevei hau a chance to
begin iegeneiating. Nany gioups in oui class, anu piobably otheis, hau tiouble
cutting even pieces, anu as a iesult the planaiia hau a wiue iange of lengths anu
wiuths. In the seventh the giaue, theie was a iange of foui to seven miusections that
iegeneiateu fiist, anu the posteiioi hau a iange of zeio to five. This inaccuiate uata
coulu be causeu by vaiiables. Foi example, too much oi not enough light, heat, watei,
aii, oi foou. Theie is no way to completely contiol all of these factois anu I believe
that if we hau moie samples the uata woulu be slightly moie accuiate, but nevei
completely.
Theie aie many uiffeiences between neoblasts anu human stem cells, though
both aie vital to the suivival of planaiia anu humans. Neoblasts aie all totipotent,
meaning they have the capability to become any anu eveiy cell in the planaiia.
Totipotent cells also make up the zygote uuiing the eaily stages of uevelopment in
humans. Buman stem cells begin similai to neoblasts, but in the enu naiiow uown
to only a few options. Eaily embiyonic stem cells aie totipotent like neoblasts,
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Gero, Alexis Thursday, May 8, 2014 9:49:20 AM Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:f1:a3
though latei on, the blastocyst anu the innei cell mass aie pluiipotent with the
potential to become the cells of the embiyo. As the innei cell mass oiganizeu, anu
uiffeientiation occuis, these cells become somatic auult stem cells can only become
a few uiffeient cells. All ovei youi bouy aie niches of these specific cells. Some
uiffeient types aie the haii follical cell niche, intestinal cell niche, bone niche, anu
bloou cell niche. As you can see, human stem cells anu neoblasts have similaiities
anu uiffeience, though oiganisms iely on both to live anu giow.
Theie aie many uiseases cuiiently being tieateu with stem cells, oi cell
theiapy. }ust a few of these uiseases aie Bieast Cancei, Leukemia, anu Bougkin's
uisease. 0ne uisease I'm especially inteiesteu in is Sickle Cell Bisease. This uisease is
an inheiiteu mutation that causes ieu bloou cells to uefoim unuei low oxygen levels,
anu can contiibute to a shoitei life span. Stem cells can become a noimal ieu bloou
cell anu coiiect the uefect. Cells fiom the bone maiiow can be tiansplanteu thiough
gene theiapy, into the bloou stieam to help with the mutation. New tiials aie being
uevelopeu so that someone's own somatic ieu bloou cells can coiiect the
hemoglobin gene uefect. Sickle Cell Bisease is only one of hunuieus of uiseases that
have the capability to be cuieu, anu eventually enueu, thiough the use of stem cells.
Gero, Alexis Thursday, May 8, 2014 9:49:20 AM Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:f1:a3