Soy Beans

Soy beans, one of the most important global sources of protein and oil, is now the first major crop lagume species with a published complete draft genome sequence. As we talked about in class last week, food companies changed the genes of soybeans to increases in the plant's oil content to promote the use of soybean oil as a biofuel, make bigger crops, improved resistance to pests an diseases that currently claim large percentages of soybean crops, even to make improvement in the digestibility of soy beans by animals and humans.Yes, it seems like is good for us in many ways, but think about it, after that many genome sequences, are we eating the real soybeans, or the industury stuff made by the food companies?

Rices' different grown condition

Rice is one of the most important crops worldwise, as it feeds over half of the world's population. There are different tpes of rice, such as domesticated rice, which is an important supply of world's rice but genetically static and not able to change its growing conditions. So people plant rices which its genes changed.But not the change by people like we talked last week, their genes changed by theirselfs naturally. In Thailand, peoole compared the genetic variation among the same variety of rice grown in different fields and villages. The genetics of the rice population fits the isolation by distance model, much like a native plant species. The further apart fiels are, the more genetically distinct they are.A number of crops grown today have been genetically optimized to consistently gice a large yield.Seeds are purchased from asupplier and the plants are all genetically similar.


Mr H. :No blogs in the past 2 weeks because of family issue.

Special blog post

Progress: We went up to the School Janitor and he revealed to us about the number of trash bags which he changes daily and the answers are truly surprising.
Each day, the trashbags are being replaced in the classrooms, teachers' offices, cafeterias, football fields, restrooms and out door campus around school.Trash cans cover a wide area at school and an estimate of 75 trash bags are changed to view every day.Yes, this sounds insant and what good actions can we implement to reduce the plastic usage which is harmful to our planet?
There are some action steps we can help save the planet. First, if each smaller size trashcan is not full by the end of day, the janitor should combine the trash with others. Secondly, students should consider to use reusable containers to store food so less disposable plates or utensils are being thrown in the trashcans.Last but not least, we only found two recycle bins in the cafeteria and to our action proposal, we must add few more on campus because we drink water in bottles or soda in cans in between calsses and we tend to fill up the trashcan space withour any considration. Because of that, more space is occupied with no rebybling action being taken.

Sponges Recycle Carbon to Give Life to Coral Reefs

This Tuesday, I watched a video about recycle carbon, and it can give life to coral reefs.I didn't understand the video at first, so I looked some informations online.It's hard to think of a sponge as an animal, especially if you have a dried up non-synthetic one in your bathtub. Living sponges don't have circulatory, digestive or nervous systems, and they can often regenerate themselves from small fragments. But sponges are indeed in the kingdom Animalia and, as this report from The Company of Biologists explains, they are critical to the survival of coral reefs.Coral reefs support some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, yet they thrive in a marine desert it is fascinated by the energy budgets that support coral reefs in this impoverished environment.Sponges grow in the deep dark cavities beneath reefs, and 90% of their diet is composed of dissolved organic carbon, which is inedible for most other reef residents.Some reserchers had to find out where the carbon was going to back up his measurements. Essentially, the sponges recycle carbon that would otherwise be lost to the reef.They knew that they had seen some loose cells, and thought that they were artifacts from cutting the samples, but when they went back and looked at the samples, they realized that choanocytes were shedding all over the place. And then De Goeij remembered the tiny piles of brown material he found next to the sponges in the aquarium every morning.

sustainably grown garlic

Consumer interest in new and diverse types of garlic is on the rise. Fueled by factors including the growth of the "local foods" movement, interest in world cuisines, and widespread reports touting its numerous health benefits, demand for high-quality, locally grown garlic is increasing throughout the U.S.Hundreds of garliccultivars are available from seed companies, retailers, and germplasm collections. Increasingly, growers purchase bulbs from nonlocal sources and are often disappointed by unpredictable yields. Garlic bulbs resulting from seed stock purchased in other regions may not display the characteristicssuch as bulb size, shape, and color, they featured in the catalogs.In 2005, garlic bulbs obtained from producers in Washington were distributed to 10 garlic growers who practiced sustainable production methods with minimal or no chemical inputs. Small-scale garlic farmers were provided with planting stocks from the same original sources and were asked to grow them on their farms for two consecutive years using their best practices.

H2Os in human body

We all know that our bodies are made up 70% of water, we had mentioned this last week in class when we were learning hydrogen bond. “I'm dying of thirst!"Well. We just might. It sounds so simple. H20. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. But this element, better known as water, is the most essential, next to air, to our survival. Water truly is everywhere, still most take it for granted.Water helps nearly every part of the human body function efficiently.Most of the human body is made up of H2O, with cells consisting of 65-90% water by weight.Therefore, it isn't surprising that most of a human body's mass is oxygen. Carbon, the basic unit for organic molecules, comes in second. 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of just six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Brain is 75% water, moderate dehydration can cause headaches and dizziness. Even when you breath, it also requires water。Our health is truly dependent on the quality and quantity of the water we drink. It contributed to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases that can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a regular basis. But sometime, drink too much water can also be a bad thing. Drinking too much water in a short period of time can cause a medical condition that's known as "Water Intoxication" or "Water Poisoning." This condition can be fatal. We wanna to live healthy, and drinking clean water can be a important role in it.

calories we need every day...

Last Saturday, my family went out for dinner with my dad's friends. We went to a korean BBQ restaurant, and the foods there are so good so my mom ate a little bit too much.After we got home, my mom asked me she is going to start dieting because she gained some weight in pased 3 weeks. I searched about how much calories do we need each day online to help my mom to diet.And I realized that generally a person who do house works need intake calories around 2000 to 2200.By subtracting 500 calories from your daily intake value you will lose around 1 pound per week. This is based on the fact that one pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, and 7 days worth of 500 calories = 3500 calories. That help a lot to my mom on her way of dieting, and also she told me to find some foods that have a lot of proteins in to to make her fill full but with less calories.　I told her that eating apples are very helpful to lose weight.Because I heard that an apple is worth 50 calories and to digest it you need 75 calories, and you can eat at same time.