Looking Back - Module 7

I assume it will be a common thread across everyone's blog posts this module, but the biggest obstacle I've been overcoming is working with R and learning how it works. I'm certainly glad to be gaining the basic concepts behind R, the mechanisms of coding are less foreign to me now than at the start of the semester. Secondly, I appreciate the discussion format of the class in that it truly challenges my critical thinking skills, forcing me to consider perspectives I might not have before and question my preconceptions of what evolution really is. On that topic, I first defined evolution as "the result of a combination of several mechanisms which eventually contribute to changes in the genomes of a species, the most well-known of these mechanisms being natural selection." While I wasn't exactly wrong, I definitely didn't capture the mere scope of what evolution entails. Along with selection, other forces such as mutation, genetic drift, migration, and non-random mating also combine, forming a complex net of interacting forces pushing and pulling at each other, which result in the expression or suppression of certain traits. Additionally, as we talked about this week, the observable heritable traits that get passed down through generations are not always linked to a single gene - this, in fact, is a rarity. With evolution, there never seems to be just one answer to anything, each factor has an effect on another, each contributing in some way to the evolution of a species.

One of the concepts I am sort of struggling with is the idea of molecular clocks. From the R exercise on SARS viruses, the graphs clearly show that mutations pop up at a steady rate; however, I still don't quite understand how that works on a molecular basis. If mutations are random, how is there such a steady pattern here? 

Looking forward to the rest of the semester, I'm curious more about the molecular processes involved in evolution. For instance, with melanocytes, multiple genes code for different proteins that all interact in signaling pathways just to determine how pigmented a species' skin is. Additionally, with the rapid advancement of genetic technology, I've become curious about the ethics involved in gene therapy. Modifying someone's genome to prevent a certain disease or change a certain trait sounds great, but there are obviously going to be ethical considerations in such procedures as you can't necessarily undo a genetic alteration. Regardless of whether or not we get into this topic in class, I do hope to look into the issue in the future. 

With a final reflection, I'd like to add that my favorite thing I've learned from Michi is, " You all have an inner fish in you, whether you like it or not!" Truly inspirational -