Ears

This chapter in the beginning was actually very interesting as it virtually brought us into the human anatomy, describing the skull and the "inner ear"deep inside very clearly, along with his vivid descriptions that helped me understand just how the ears work.

I was surprised mostly by the inner ear, aside from the fact that the middle ear can distinguish mammals from other creatures. The middle ear depicted to me just how our bodies change to its surroundings as the middle ear blueprint diverged from its ancestor because some of the "descendants of fish began to walk"; hearing is very different on land than is in the sea.

What really amazed me about the complexity of the human body, was the complexity and the functions of the inner ear. His analogies, in this case a statue of liberty snow globe, were again extremely helpful. I never would have thought that the inner ear was maintaining our sense of balance and such, just by "fluid-filled sacs with tiny rocks". Another point that Shubin made which surprised me was when he stated that "the whole system is [...] connected to our eye muscles via connections in our brain", as he gave an example that we all understood; in fact i got out of my seat and tried moving my head while looking at the same point. In this chapter I also learned how fish always darted away before, which was always a mystery. Personally, this is my favorite chapter especially as it makes me realize what I always thought was nothing great.

Lastly this chapter

Any of you still blogging.... STOP!

The assignment is over... just stop... and thank you for all the wonderful blogs.

Chapter Eleven;

The best chapter of the book! (=

Even though it is the longest chapter of the book, I did not give up on it as easily as I thought I would. Because usually I would get excited knowing that a chapter is short but this chapter actually made me enjoy all the information Shubin was sharing with the readers. I found it the most interesting when he would discuss complications and their connection to the past of different mammals such as sharks and tadpoles.

While I read this chapter I felt like a historian, a doctor, and a scientist and it was most definitely one of those chapters I thought the reader can interact with Shubin's words. His way of bringing up the past to connect to the future makes the reader do a double take on life today.

My overall thoughts on the book went from interested, lost of interest, to interested again. Shubin's outlook really helped me and my view on the development and evolution of life over time, not saying it changed my beliefs but it gave me a clear vision of what scientists study and believe.

-Briana Fauni

Chapter Ten;

"Can you hear me now? Good."

I did not think the ear would be labeled as one of those things that are "so simple, yet complicated". The ear is not only the "thing" on the side of our faces, but there is so much more to it. Our ears not only take in sound, but they also interact with nerves, brain, and eyes. Shubin was still able to connect the main point of this chapter, the ears and how they work, to the anatomy of other mammals and aquatic animals, such as sharks. He's right, it's true we would not expect that sharks would have ears because externally they do not. But inside, they do use the same bone as we use in our ears. Hyomandibula versus Stapes. Seeing how the hyomandibula is used in sharks for their jaws and we use the stapes for our ears made me think. It really is amazing how the anatomy of humans, animals, almost anything can have so many twists and turns.

-Briana Fauni

[ch10] Deaf

Until I read this chapter, I was a deaf in my whole life even though I could hear, because I never really knew how the fabulous ear works. I already knew about the category of ear into three parts(outer,middle,inner), but what made me surprise is the connection between mammals' two ear bones and pieces of the jaw in the reptiles. I could easily understand Shubin's logical and orderly explanation and agreed on the conclusion that bones at the back of a reptile jaw became human being's malleus and incus.
By learning the function of gel inside swishes, I was able to comprehend why drunk people were so bad at balancing themselves. If you really think about it, it's amazing how brain misinterprets the amount of fluid in our inner ear and confuses us. Anyway, in spite of short content in this chapter, I learned many valuable new facts and I feel like I can hear better than before after reading this chapter!

Vision

Chapter 9:
It was another short chapter and I forgot to do it… Sorry…
This chapter was interesting because it focused on our vision. I have horrible visual sight and without my glasses I cannot see anything. In this chapter the author explained about how our eye captures light and turns it into a image in our brain. I don’t really agree about evolution on how we got our eye. It seems kind of stupid explanation.

Vision

This chapter was really trippy for me because it gave me a whole new view on life. I honestly didn't know that genetics could do so many different things that only seem real in cheap sci-fi movies. When Shubin talked about growing different eyes on animals' different body parts, I started imagining if that could be done with people. Then I pictured people I knew as cyclops' and got a little freaked out. I don't have much to say about this chapter except the fact that it gave me a new view on life. I'm never going to "see" the same again. :]

Chapter 9

Short chapter again~

This chapter basically explains how eyes can see. The author divide eye by three section, which are molecule, tissues, and genes. The three section do different works. Molecule gather the light, tissues are used to see, and genes make the whole thing.

Actually, this chapter was not that interested because only thing that the author do is to explain the function and structure of eyes. However, the genes section was better than other section. The author said scientists can make eyes on any body parts. I knew it is possible since i read chapter 3, but still it was pretty interested.

Chapter Nine:

I am enjoying Shubin's analogies very much. His analogy of the eyes being like a Chevy Corvette was very appealing. I understand where he came from considering the fact that archaeologists rely on collected history from previous fossils.

When Shubin talks about being in the dark, I couldn't help but think about when you lay awake in the middle of the night. It's when you're in the dark, and it's pitch black. But, after a while, you can start to tell what's what in the dark. It's the same thing as focusing a camera. Where you have to adjust the lens back and forth before you can get a clear picture.

The diagram Shubin showed of the different eyes really opened my eyes (pun not intended) to how differently we see things compared to animals. I always thought that anything with eyes sees the same. Reading about how differently we process images compared to animals and how similarly is interesting to learn about.

Chapter 9: Vision

I learned a lot from reading this chapter. I really like the picture on page 151 where it shows the different types of eyes and their focus. It is amazing that our eyes have evolved over many years so that we can see everything more clearly and accurately. "In humans these cells make up about 70 percent of all the sensory cells in our body. That is a clear statement about how important vision is to us" (150). This quote made me thankful for having vision because without it, we would not be able to see anything (I honestly feel really bad for blind people).

-Nirav Patel

Chapter Nine;

Our eyes help us judge and take in everything around us, such small organs with a huge impact. At first, all of Shubin's descriptions of the different components of an eye are pretty basic. It was almost like a review of the function of a human eye as I read through the beginning of the chapter. Then as he begins to focus on the light-gathering molecules, tissues, and genes, it got me hooked onto this evolution point he's been trying to make.

The idea with the light-gathering molecules made sense to me because I know we all experience going from a room filled with lights on to a room with the lights turned off and we can see or almost feel our eyes adjust to the new setting.

Though the whole thing with the tissues and genes actually got the brain juices actually flowing. It's kind of ironic because the heading for these two sections sound really obvious but you really have to think and analyze what Shubin is trying to get at with the discoveries of these eye mutations. Compared to the light-gathering molecules, it was sounded like something more complicated but it was really we experience every day.

When Shubin was describing the mutations with the eyeless gene it got me so interested that I had to share it with my little sister. She was absolutely disgusted and just thinking about it also gave me the goosebumps. But it was familiar when he brought up that other scientists found a way of messing with genes just as mentioned earlier in the book. And finding eyes on different parts of the mice or fly was simply weird but fascinating.

-Briana Fauni

Chapter 8 ^.^

Sorry I had to do this blog a little late I was planning on putting up my blog on Wednesday but I had a small fever as soon as I came back from Italy, which was Tuesday night. Thankfully this chapter was short otherwise it might have taken longer for me to read since it was hard to concentrate on reading rather than vomiting. Although this chapter was short, it was still very much interesting. And I agree with Pars, this was an easy chapter. The introduction was the most interesting yet! Reading about the development of DNA from Shubin is much more interesting than reading it form a text book plus he describes how to extract DNA from simple things for example: Chicken liver. Then he started talking about scent. Its true smelling does help people a lot, like smelling for rotten foods or drinks or for smoke when there is a fire. I never knew that water mammals used to use their blowholes to smell, I always thought it was to breathe but I guess that’s a result from mutations.

-Julia

Chapter Nine

I thought that it was really cool that Shubin found an eye of a fossil. I didn't even know that was possible! I liked the way Shubin explained how our eyes work by comparing them to cameras. I remember someone telling me before that our eyes function like cameras, but they never broke it down so detailed for me. Thanks to Shubin I have a much better understanding of how our eyes function. It's pretty interesting. Shubin's diagram helped me a lot by letting me actually see what he meant. Our eyes are extremely complex. They have to work hard and lightning fast in order for us to see the world. It's amazing how our eyes absorb light and transform it into an image or multiple images with all of the information that it gets. Shubin is really helping me learn a lot about how my body functions. Although I find it interesting when Shubin talks about things like how genes duplicated and adapted to let us see in color, it is hard for me to believe because it goes against my faith and what I was brought up to believe. I think it is crazy how if you turned on the eyeless gene in the antennae, an eye grew there. Also, how when a mouse eye gene was turned on in a fly, a fly eye grew there. It's amazing how our bodies just know what to do. This among many other things Shubin has taught me proves how complex, amazing, and hard working the human body, or any other creature's body is.

Behind the Eyes:D

This chapter particularly piqued my curiosity as Shubin focused on our eyes: the secrets and history behind this organ which is such a huge part of our daily life.

Truly amazing and mind boggling is how the eye functions, which is why it interested me so much when Shubin slowly delineates just as to how it works and cooperates with the brain such as when the light receptors send "signals to our brain which interprets these signals as images". Also interesting was how special proteins called lens crystalins are "long lived" so it allows our eye lens to continue functioning despite aging. Our eyes are also able to see in color because of opsins, which made me think if this was how an ink jet printer only has 3 or 4 cartridges. Thanks to Shubin's constant reference to daily life experience as well I was able to understand just how these light gathering molecules function.

Just as when Shubin claimed that it was a possibility that primates have color vision due to the changes in flora. What I wonder however was what was the color of the flora before the changes creating color vision, was all flora green?, as Shubin stated that "monkeys used color vision to tell apart different fruits and leaves."

Once again as well Shubin relates humans to our ancestors, in this case, the bacteria as the twisted receptor paths is most identical to certain molecules in bacteria. I personally am ambivalent about such topics as evolution, however after reading this book I feel as if my perspective has changed profoundly.

Chapter 8..sry it was late... was at retreat and came bak :)

This chapter was all about scents.... and this helped me understand more that DNA plays a vital role in the creation of a body. Shubin is right about scent being important because smelling can help you get out of danger or help you see if the food is rotten and such.Well... I learned alot from this chapter. XD

[ch9] Chimera

Human beings are apparently animals so they belong to the "animal world." According to Shubin, animals are specialized for daylight or night. I believe that I am specialized for night because I am nocturnal, but I wish I can change the specialization to daylight to have a systematic daily life.
The most fascinating thing I learned in this chapter is the eyeless DNA. Isn't it amazing how you can locate extra eyes on your body? I imagine myself with an extra eye on my forehead. Or I can have one on my neck so I can see both my front and back. Gehring's experiment really amazed me. A rat with a fly's eye! So the mythical creature Centaurus is not just an imaginary. I'm certain that scientists can also create chimera, a monster is consisted with a lion's head, a sheep's body, and a snake's tail. Anyway I really enjoy reading this book because it allows me to imagine creatively.

Chapter 9- See the light!!!

Shubin's story of his adventure to China really allowed this chapter to take flight. The finding of ancient eyes and primitive forms of vision gave way to the history of photoreceptors. As he said many times, Shubin stated that early forms of vision only had two photoreceptors where as modern animals have three; one for black and white, and two for color.

Certain genetic eye disorders are the same DNA issue in flies, mice, and humans. Just to think about it, the complex human body can be compared at the genetic level to one of a simple fly. It's intriguing. The formation of the eyeless flies and their mutation kind of weirded me out. The scientists mutating the flies so that they would grow eyes on their legs seemed cruel even if it is "justified".

Ch 10: Do you hear that?

I know this is obvious but most of what Shubin says is actually logical and we can connect to it. For example, " the first time you see the inside of the ear is a letdown: the real machinery is hidden deep inside the skull". I thought that his introduction was obvious but amazingly intelligent because he makes you think about the small things in life. Well throughout this chapter i learned a lot of things like: the ear has 3 sections, the middle ear has bones,and that we have gel inside of head in a sac that helps us hear. I would have never thought that we would have gel that swishes in our head. Shubin tells us that over time the middle ear bone evolved over time through different species, but this evolution of the ear bone relates mammals and reptiles. I don't know if i really follow this because yeah theres evidence but how does an ear bone reveal evolution? Well its been explained but its still amazing and mind blowing. Shubin the talks about how the ear bone evolved into a jaw bone in sharks. I wouldn't have thought that one could eat with their ear. This chapter overall was kind of confusing but at the same time it was good. He illustrated how the ear and eye had an ancient connection.

Ch9: I see you

Shubin is an amazing man, like seriously when you think that he cant go on any more interesting adventures he talks about his adventures in China. Well his ADVENTURES aren't like those of Shaggy and Scooby but that of Indian Jones, without the undead and booby traps. Well his story is about his encounter with a rare fossil that was well preserved and had extraordinary detail. To many this sounds boring but i bet when he saw this fossil he reacted the same way we do when we get that item we want. Well this chapter was pretty cool, it talked about how our eyes work. From the receptors to the corneas I learned that in order for us to see properly our eyes must stay under constant shading, once the light changes our receptors must recharge. From the discussion of the eyes it crazy how they connect to our DNA sequence and eventually relate to prehistoric bacteria. I would have never thought that we could relate to bacteria, fish maybe, but bacteria, that's crazy. Another thing that's crazy is that our color vision genes mutate over the years because in order for the species to survive new characteristics must be developed. Shubin supplies an example of monkeys how their colored vision developed in order to spot predators more easily and in order to categorize the different types of food to determine which are edible. Over all this chapter was a trip because Shubin once again played with the laws of nature, by mutating flies with the eyeless genes. They created eyes where eyes should not be.

I loved chapter 8. It was BY FAR the easiest flowing chapter in this book so far. The intro to this chapter was good and it paved the road for the rest of this chapter. It allowed the rest of the chapter to be really smooth.

Eventho the best analogy for smell comes from music, I like the lock-and-key mechanism better.

Buck and Axel's discoveries including their discovery in the olfactory epithelium was intriguing as well.

This chapter also shed some light on how dogs are such amazing trackers, by showing us how jaw less fish reveal a very important point.

I look forward to reading the next chapter about my favorite sense, sight :D.

Chapter 8 Making Scents.

Yaaaay! Finally a short chapter, hahah. Even though it was shorter it did not make it any less intruiging. Shubin's introduction to the chapter with the development of DNA was interesting, especially the part where he describes how to extract DNA from simple things like chicken liver. It made me want to try to do it but I would make a mess and not want to clean up, haha. The use of our olfactory genes is pretty remarkable in which we can hold thousands of different scents from when we can first remember like from schoolrooms or the kitchen. The analogy he used that worked best to describe the process was, the music chord. The comparison of the many notes or smaller scents combine to make one note or smell that is perceived. The diagram on 142 was also very helpful. Another interesting point he brought up was the water mammals and how they no longer use their blowholes for smell but to breath and how mutations carried on from generations eventually led to that. Even if this chapter was shorter it didn't make it any less informative or enjoyable. So much reading this summer, haha. (:

Ch 8

Shubin makes extracting DNA look so easy with his recipe. I might even try it with my own sandwich meats to discover its DNA haha. I never knew smelling was so important to our well-being. It helps us avoid damage from flatulence and determine if food is spoiled. My nose saved me from harm lots of times when I smelled sour milk in my milk carton. We can't take our sense of smell for granted. Moving on, what really surprised me was finding out that fish can smell too, in water of course. No wonder sharks and other fish predators are so good at hunting, their smelling abilities allow them to smell blood from a distance. Also, isn't it weird how 3 percent of mammals' entire genomes are devoted to smelling genes but humans have most of them turned off? However, even if dogs can smell better than humans, at least we can see many different colors, not black and white.

Making sense of scents

Probably one of the most successful way of advertising is to tap into the sense of smell. A faint smell can trigger a plethora of emotion and memories. America's perfume industry made 64 billion dollars in 2005 by simply appealing to our olfactory senses. Chapter 8 explains why smells are so powerful. However, our sense of smell can be even more powerful if it wasnt so hindered by the "baggage" leftover from our mammalian ancestors.
This article reminded me of a fastfood article I read. The article talked about how fast food chains rely on smell to advertise their food. The author of the article was invited to a tasting of a new fast food product but shocked to find out that there was no actually tasting of food but rather a melange of new different chemical smells. The power of smell is so incredibly mindblowing and although it could be better, I appreciate it.
Jennifer Kim
PS. The instructions on how to extract DNA that Shubin gave (the white gloppy mess) was disgusting.

Chapter 8

This chapter really answered the mystery to my questions. It taught me that my belief of the cells that I believed in and rose up with was actually quiet opposite to the actual thing. What I believed that every different cells were different in the DNA that is given to them. However, through this chapter, I have found out that cells contain the exact same DNA. It was not as simple as I believed it to be. Just like the olfactory system, every cell has a different role for their locations. Shubin explains that the cells in the olfactory system are able to complete their tasks that are given through the different ribosomes that are active. Similar to the Sonic Hedgehog, the DNA only use a part of the strand and not the whole thing. For an example, if the cells in the eyes use the same DNA strand as the cells in the brain, our body's system would be out of order. It is through this method in which cells receive their different tasks within the body. This is how we maintain our body's systems, such as the olfactory system, the immune system, or the cardiovascular system.

Chapter 8

This chapter was so easy to get through. Shubin talks about the olfactory system and how it works. It's all so very ancient and started with of course - fish. Some fish started out with a hole, and later on they developed 2 holes which in turn, see today in our human bodies. It was cool to read how we are able to smell the things we smell and differentiate them into certain distinct categories or like Shubin said, "bellpeppers." It all works because of DNA and which parts of the DNA is active in different cells in the body. All cells have the same DNA but they have different roles because of the distinct parts that are active. That's so amazing!

Ch. 8: Making Scents!

Chapter 8 was definitely one of the most interesting chapters in this book. At first I didn't understand why Shubin chose to start the chapter talking about different types of scientists, since it didn't have anything to do with scents and smell. But it all came together through a single factor: DNA. Once again we are reminded of the importance of DNA. Shubin gave an example of the process of extracting DNA by explaining an experiment using household ingredients. I can't help but wonder if it would actually work. Maybe I'll try it someday (for science :D). It's pretty incredible how our noses can collect so many odor molecules at once, send nerve signals to the brain, and distinguish the kind of smell all under less than a second. I especially liked Shubin's comparison to a chord. I was in choir in junior high and now I'm in color guard, which associates with the band. As you can see, music really interests me, so comparing the way odor is perceived to a chord was quite amusing to me (plus it actually made sense). It was also cool how Buck and Axel got all three of the results they wanted from their experiments. It's interesting how we've evolved to trade some smell genes for better vision. I'd personally prefer to see better than to smell better.

Despite this being the last chapter we need to blog about, I look forward to finishing the book and seeing how Shubin sums all this up. This was by far the most interesting summer read I've ever had.

~Bryanna Streeter :)

Chapter 8

Wow~~ it's very short chapter~~

Basically, this chapter is about DNA and Smelling gene. According to this chapter, DNA gives information that fossil can not provide. Especially, sense of smell records all the history of body in DNA, so scientists can find information about body soft organs, which do not become fossil.

This chapter was really short but really amazing because I did not know that we are able to see color because we use smell genes for sight genes. When i read this part i had some questions.

• Why we use smell genes for sight genes in order to see color?
• Can we just make less smell gene and more sight gene? (of course, i know we have no control upon it)

I think it is my hw to figure out, or maybe the answer is on next chapter.

Chapter 8:

I went out with my best friend today. While we were out, we went to Bath & Body Works to see the new additions of the B&BW collection. But, we tended to stick to the scents we liked. It was really ironic because my best friend and I were talking about how smelling a certain scent can bring memories flooding back. And Shubin's little blurb about how the perfume industry made alot of money was pretty ironic as well. 

Shubin's analogy of the lock-and-key our brains use to select certain smells really made the process of smelling easy to grasp. Although, the analogy to the chord struck an ever louder note (pun intended) with me because I play the guitar, which uses chords. The diagrams and example Shubin used to relate humans to animals did not disappoint. It was another example of the reasons why human evolution from animals is possible. It's slightly unnerving at how we as humans are so similar in many way to animals. But, it's also interesting. 

And that step-by-step DNA extraction at the beginning of the book? Well, let's just say that's really useful information for someone who has a microscope. (Yes, I have a microscope. No, I didnt buy it. It was a gift.. I have a telescope too.. haha.) 

Chapter 8

Extracting DNA reminds me of a lab we did in 9th grade Bio Hp, taking out the DNA in a simple process from some sort of plant. It seems like a complex process that would require intense laboratory labor, but Shubin points out that it is so simple it can be done at home.

The description of the way that we perceive smell is interesting because at first, we don't think of smell as a molecular function, rather something that is "just there". It reminds me of an episode of Magic School Bus where they shrink down and rink the smell molecules in order to remove the bad oder. Also interesting to note is that the smelling does not happen directly in the nose, rather in the higher section of the area. That would be surprising to many people.

Smelling must be a very important aspect of humans, because a whole 3% of our genome is devoted to the ability to interpret codes of smell. Use the different type of receptors to trace the water-land shift is another interesting way to track our "inner fish".

-- Abdel Albakri

Chapter 8

Extracting DNA reminds me of a lab we did in 9th grade Bio Hp, taking out the DNA in a simple process from some sort of plant. It seems like a complex process that would require intense laboratory labor, but Shubin points out that it is so simple it can be done at home.

The description of the way that we perceive smell is interesting because at first, we don't think of smell as a molecular function, rather something that is "just there". It reminds me of an episode of Magic School Bus where they shrink down and rink the smell molecules in order to remove the bad oder. Also interesting to note is that the smelling does not happen directly in the nose, rather in the higher section of the area. That would be surprising to many people.

Smelling must be a very important aspect of humans, because a whole 3% of our genome is devoted to the ability to interpret codes of smell. Use the different type of receptors to trace the water-land shift is another interesting way to track our "inner fish".

-- Abdel Albakri

Ch. 8 - Making Scents

Although I have learned new information in each chapter so far in this book, the stuff I learned while I read Chapter 8 was profound. In the beginning, I was kind of lost when Shubin was explaining our sense of smell but when he used the chord analogy, I started to understand a little more of what he was talking about. One of the interesting facts I discovered was that fish were able to smell in the water and they had similar nasal openings as humans. Though now there are only animals with either water-based or air-based receptors, there were fish that had both types in the past. But what really amazed me was how humans had traded smell for sight. I knew that humans lacked the ability to smell compared to other mammals, but I never knew that in exchange we were able to see better. Shubin explained that the reason why we don't have a wide sense of smell is because that many of the odor genes that we have do not function. I wonder what would happen and how the world would be like if we were able to use those genes and if they did function? I think it might be a possibility in the future since evolution as well as mutation is a natural and unstoppable process in life.

Chapter Eight: Making Scents

Well I think the introduction for this chapter was my favorite (and sickening). Shubin has a way to place the image right in my head, which I really hoped he wouldn't since I could clearly see that soapy soup with a goopy white ball. One of the most interesting parts of the chapter for me was learning about how the nasal passage for dolphins and whales is now the blowhole. I never knew that they never had a sense of smell. I also loved hearing about how over evolution we developed the process of trading senses because of how it makes sense. Us humans rely on our sight the most, which explains why our sense of smell is mediocre compared to that of dogs.

-Ellie Chung

Deoxyribonucleic acid

I never thought about the possibility to extract DNA. I was bemused and surprised when Shubin said "Extracting DNA from bodies is incredibly easy, so you can do it in your kitchen." He really well described the process of extracting DNA. I didn't try it, but I wonder if we could really see the goopy white ball(DNA) with our naked eyes.
Deoxyribonucleic acid has always been a familiar, but complicated term to me, because I always hear and generally know what it is, but I never knew it well. Shubin says, "you can actually decipher the history of virtually any part of our body." I already know that DNA is fantastic, but if I really think about it's perfectness, I found myself surprised.
I like the way how Shubin mentions about selling home. I do 100% agree on the effect of bread baking smell, because it is true that people get both physically and psychologically when they smell something delighting to their olfactory scent.
Finally, I wonder if scientists can discover a way to revive the useless genes that are left over by ancestors, because I do really want to have a tail!

Chapter EIGHT.

When Shubin said that DNA is so easy to extract that you could do it in your kitchen, I thought “yeah in some genius scientist’s kitchen”. But when he started explaining it, it wasn’t complicated at all.

It was amazing to learn that “Our sense of smell allows us to discriminate among five thousand to ten thousand odors”. I never even though that my nose could do that!

When Shubin was explaining how we can detect a smell the analogy of a chord was brilliant. It made things more simple and easy to understand. (:

I never really thought of “our sense of smell being housed inside our skull”. But then when I saw the pictures on pg 143 I was kind of surprised.

Again, through the smell, Shubin relates us to fish; which I had NEVER thought of.

I liked learning about how dolphins and whales contribute to the question of why we have so many odor genes if many of them are useless. They use their smell genes not to smell, but to breathe.

I think it's pretty cool that we use our vision more than our smell.

So in all, as other students have said, this chapter was to the point; short; and a fun, easy read (:

Chapter 8: Making Scents

This chapter was short and it was easy to understand. I learned a lot about how our sense of smell works. The picture on page 142 (the one with the person smelling the flower) helped me really see how the molecules work their way into our nose so that we can detect its odor. I also really liked how he used the analogy of the chord. A chord contains many different notes that essentially act as one. "In the same way, an odor is the product of signals from lots of receptors keyed to different odor molecules. Our brain perceives these different impulses as one smell" (141-142). This helped me understand how our sense of smell works. I also learned that humans have many useless genes for smell because we traded off for having sight. I found that interesting as well.

- Nirav Patel

Chapter eight: making scents.

This chapter, to me was very interesting because its always cool to learn about odors. Its like the McDonald's down the street that puts a fan next to the fries to give off a scent that attracts more customers. Shubin also said bake bread when your selling a home because it is more likely to sell.

I think its fascinating, how we can see DNA in this one simple experiment that Shubin explains( I think we should do the experiment this year lol). We will see the "goop" aka DNA.
Shubin states: "Recall that all our cells contain the same DNA; what differs is which bits of DNA are active (140)".
This is super cool, I never knew this! ahaha. Cells have a lot of memory or stuff in it. Cells are really compact and it would be fun if we can shrink down and travel inside of it. A whole new DISNEYLAND. LOL. Well, nothing can compare to Disneyland. :)
AND WE HAVE FIVE THOUSAND TO TEN THOUSAND ODORS! dang!!!!!!
Shubin states: "As we breathe or sniff, we suck these odor molecules into our nostrils (141)"
The process in which this happens is cool but kind of gross at the same time. It is also weird how we perceive many smells as one but we notice every smell we intake.

"We humans are a part of lineage that has traded smell for sight" :D I like this quote. This is very amazing :) Smell and Sight are very important

Chapter 8

Chapter 8
This chapter was my favorite because it was very short. Also it was very interesting to learn how our brain functions to pick up different kind of smell. He explained how the receptors pick up smell in our nose and send signals to our brain. I didn’t know anything about smell and it was very interesting to learn about it.

Chapter Eight

This chapter was really short, but still interesting. As I read its like Shubin can read my mind because whenever a question or a thought pops into my head Shubin addresses it almost immediately. I thought that it was cool to discover that what we smell is our brain's response to molecules floating in the air. I know I've said it before but this book is making me think about stuff that I just took for granted or never payed attention to. I never really thought about how we smell, how we inhale molecules into our nostrils which get trapped in the mucous lining. I just breathe and smell things without thinking about it. This book is opening up my mind to how much is going on in our bodies and how hard our bodies work so that we can do function and live life.

Chapter Eight;

Shubin discusses the olfactory sense of a living organism and how the DNA is triggered when being put to use. He also mentions how that olfactory genes are always copied but they're different every time. To convey his point, he uses alot of similies and metaphors to how these genes work. It made sense to me that the genes used to detect different scents would be the same but different at the same time. The similarity would be how they work but the difference between each gene is what kind of scents they pick up. This was another point I thought I would not understand but understood as I thought more about it.

In this chapter, I also notice that Shubin goes back to Tiktaalik and how it's sense of smell is different because it has an external and internal nostril just like us today. This supports Shubin's point that humans have evolved more from early ancestors of the fish. This was another step for me in believing the interesting aspects of evolution.

-Briana Fauni

making scents

This chapter was short but went to the point; smell. Shubin describes how we smell and the use of smell in this chapter. As always he draws the attention to how important these things we don’t always recognize are. For example Shubin shows how being able to smell is a way to get and shrare information with your brain. Smell lets one know when to eat and what to eat. I found this chapter ever interesting because it wasn’t a concept hard to grasp it was something I already knew a little about; smell. Also I looked Shubin’s analogy of smell being like a music cord. Shubins way of writing is easy and fun to understand because of his comfortable language.
This entire chapter was quite interesting and fun to read. Even though this is our last blog entry I’m still going say that reading the rest is defiantly something I’d like to do. It was very interesting and an assignment that fun to do.

chapter eight

I agree with everyone that this chapter was short but it was just as informative as all the other chapters and again like all the others before it, this chapter surprised me with finding out new things about anatomical history especially when Shubin explains "The genes involved in the sense of smell are present in all of our cells, although they are active only in the nasal area" (140). Then later he adds, "we mammals, with over a thousand of these genes, devote a huge part of our entire genetic apparatus just to smelling... fully 3 percent of our entire genome is devoted to genes for detecting different odors" (144). 3 percent is quite a significant percentage for only one of our senses, more so, for something that helps us survive yet we take for granted.

I didn't know that the sense of smell even had a connection with genetic apparatus. But reading this chapter reminded me of an article I read in a magazine that explained new studies that prove the loss of smell as an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Patients that were not able to identify unique, distinct odors/aromas such as cinnamon and vinegar were more likely to get Alzheimer's disease than those who were able to identify the smells, yet in consideration with the family history of the patient and if passed generations in the family had it as well. The sense of smell is so powerful that it can do so much from evoking memories, to predicting disease patterns through generations, down to the very survival of our kind.

At the end of the chapter Shubin states how Gilad found "that primates that develop color vision tend to have large numbers of knocked-out smell genes... We humans are a part of a lineage that has traded smell for sight... In this trade-off, our sense of smell was deemphasized, and many of our olfactory genes became functionless" (147). This made think: Do color-blind people have more genes for smell as a compensation since their bodies have traded colored sight for smell? Maybe not necessarily... idk

Alexis Jacalne

Chapter 8

I was surprised with this chapter and how scent affects our lifestyle pretty much. It is very interesting how how smell is very crucial in our life yet many people do not play attention to it. How smell helps us get hungry and smell food better. I was a surprising shocked to hear that our nose can pick up a scent from a mile long beach with just sand, that is crazy! It is interesting how whales and dolphins use there nostrils to particularly live in this world without who wonders what would happen. DNA which is the master mind in controlling our smell does it again by showing me how DNA plays a role in everything in our body. Overall this chapter was short, interesting, and straight to the point, no confusion in this chapter at anytime.

Ankit Salhotra

Chapter Eight

Yes! I totally agree with what Neil Shubin said “More essentially, smells can help us to survive. The smell of tasty food gets us hungry; the smell of sewage makes us feel ill”(140). One of my friends was sick, and she lost the sense of smell. I remembered every time she had to depend on us to describe those things that we smell. So it was really danger for her because she can not smell the smoke.

In the last two chapters, the author had mentioned about that the ancestors of all organisms had similar biological characters. So I made a hypothesis which is that all the organisms might have the same ancestors. It was based on their embryos, unicellular organisms, and multicellular organisms. In chapter six, the author described that embryos were look very similar; however, they came out differently. In chapter seven, multicellular organisms had come from unicellular organisms were mentioned. In this chapter, he mentioned that nasal openings and the flow of odor molecules from jawless fish to man. Also he mentioned “as in fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, much of our sense of smell is housed inside our skull” (142). So this also had proven my hypothesis discussed in last two comments that all of the organisms might have the same ancestors. I wander whether this hypothesis will make me win a Nobel Prize or not.

Ch. 8

From ch. 8, i learned a lot of new information about our sense of smell. It was interesting to learn how our receptors in our noses send information to our brains via molecules. That one scent can have thousands of molecules since each receptor has a unique molecule. It was intriguing as well to learn that 3 percent of our genes is dedicated to our sense of smell. However, it was even more shocking to find out that over thousands of that 3 percent aren't even useful in our sense of smell. It was also interesting to find out that since dolphins and whales have almost all their odor gene inactive, their nasal passage is no longer for smelling but breathing. Moreover, i never knew that their was a difference between mammals and water-bound organism with their odor receptors and how they precieve odors differently. Lastly, i found it astonishing that over time, we humans were able to trade some of the activity our olfactory genes into those of our eyes, thus improving their ability. It makes me wonder in the next thousands of years will we humans trade genes again in order to improve our bodies in any ways. Well, this is it, my last post for the summer, and it's a great way to end it, with the ch. being short and all (and if you thought it's because we don't have to post anymore after ch. 8 then shame on you!!!). Anyways have a great rest of the summer.

Chapter 8

As many people already mentioned, I noticed this to be a really short chapter, and the explanations were really easy to understand and straight to the point. This was a really enjoyable chapter, since our sense of smell is very important to humans. In addition, I had been watching this movie recently, in which the main character arranges apartments and homes for open houses, and I thought it clever when she had cookies baked in the kitchen to make the house even more inviting to prospective buyers. Focusing on the chapter though, one thing I found really interesting was the similarities of how fish and humans smell and how the difference is simply that fish have water based receptors, while humans have air based receptors. I enjoyed this chapter because I really had not previously known at all how humans were able to smell, and so finding out exactly how (odor molecules attaching to mucous membranes and then interacting with receptors in the nose) was fun for me to read. As I read the chapter, I realized that the reason why we can't smell with a stuffy nose when we're sick is probably because the odor molecules aren't able to reach the receptors.

Chapter 8-Making Scents are making sense! :)

NOT REALLY!!! I still find Shubin extremely random/confusing especially in the intro to this chapter. The DNA in a blender, although true, seems to be useless information with absolutely nothing to do with the scent. DNA does control the bodily functions, including smell, but putting meat in a blender with salt water, dish soap, and meat tenderizer to separate the DNA from the meat seems unnecessary to include.

In this chapter, ancient fish have been understood to have a combination of air and water genes in their olfactory receptors. I can't believe olfactory receptors are just a fancy way to say the mechanism that gives you the sense of smell. Does that mean that humans and modern organisms are less complex than previous fish or just more specific? If evolution really exists, then most organisms may lose their sense of smell just like the dolphin or the whale.

Smell gets even better! It was found that only 3% of the genome is for olfaction but not all of that even works due to mutations and other mishaps. If there is relationship between taste and smell, in which there are not two separate senses, then does that mean only that 3% is designated for taste too? or does it prove that there are two separate senses? It's funny to think that all of these questions are over only 3% of the genome!

Ch 8 : Making Scents

The last chapter to post and I get the honor to post it myself (china blocks it, in Taiwan)! This was the shortest and most straightforward chapter in the entire book. The beginning of the chapter explains the simplicity of collecting DNA, which was indeed interesting (my mother would think im wasting meat). However, the most was when Shubin was explaining the lock and key system thats able to differentiate thousands of different sents. Also, that a certain odor is also a combination of molecules, but the brain conceives it as a single smell. Looking at fish in a pond and seeing nostrils, I have always wondered if fish could actually smell, and this chapter confirms it. It is suprising though, that dolphins and Whales do not have the luxury of having the complete taste of krill and fish because their nasal passages are converted to breathing, which is a necessity more than smelling. I have the habit of smelling my food before tasting it, and its interesting to know that 3% of my DNA is devoted for that process. To end my last post, I'd like to thank my ancient fish friends evolving and providing the organs I need to becoming what I am today. See everyone in class!'

Ian Tang

Ch8. Making Scents

This chapter was very short, but because it was straight to the point, not due to having little information. Being able to smell is an important aspect to animals because it tells our brain information, whether to avoid something like rotten eggs, or to feel hungry when we smell something tasty. The way Shubin analogized smells to a music chord really helped me understand that receptors work together in order to produce the thought of smell in our brains. As the book suggests, Shubin then connects how we smell things to how fish smell things, and to our surprise, it is through the same way.
In all, this chapter was very short, but straight to the point, leaving out a lot of the back story that Shubin usually writes (which honestly I do not miss). Well, this marks the end of my blogging here, I look forward to AP Bio this coming school year.

Chapter 8. Making Scents

To be completely honest, I was really glad that this chapter was short and to the point. After reading the long chapter 7, I wasn't too excited about the next one. Anyways, in this chapter Shubin talks about our sense of smell, and how it developed and how it works. This chapter was interesting to me for two reasons. The primary reason: I've always been curious how our senses work, not just smell, but taste, touch, and sight as well. The secondary reason: I was curious when I started reading the chapter how our body can differentiate between so many different odors that are out there, and how fast our olfactory system reacts to a smell by sending the signal to our brain. What Shubin does best, is compare our bodies and it's functions to those of other creatures that we can't imagine having any similarities with. I knew that whales and dolphins are mammals, and that they use blowholes to breathe, but I never knew that they don't have a sense of smell. It's really amazing that dolphins use sonar to communicate with eachother and find food, etc. Shubin talks about the difference in smelling between fish and mammals. For example, the fact that fish have water-based receptors and mammals have air-based ones. Shubin also talks about our trade-off between sight and smell as evolution took it's phenomenon. The fact that early primates had a better sense of smell makes it easier to understand how they survived. To be the predator, a good sense of smell is essential, and even a better sense of smell is essential to not become the prey. As evolution took place, our sense of sight grew stronger which helps humans today function in the technological age we live in and progress with the advancements in technology. I think it's a reasonable trade. I don't think I have to worry about smelling another animal in my neighborhood that would be out to kill me. :]

, Anany

chapter 8 - Making Scents

Well first off, I am so happy that this is the last chapter that we have to blog about, although this book is very interesting. I wouldn't have minded if we had to blog about all the chapters because like Bryan Munar said I will also have to finish this book because I also have ocd about it like Bryan. So this chapter was really short and really easy to understand. I agree with Brain Wang when he says that “Smell is an amazing aspect of daily life that people tend to underestimate.” Like Joo Won said, it was fascinating to read that out smelling scents come from DNA. It’s also interesting to learn that three percent of our genes are dedicated to smelling. The thing that surprised me the most was that fish are able to smell underwater. It was also interesting to read that humans favor sight over smell.

chapt. 8

Its is pretty amazing what the nose can and how scent has affected our actions. Smell is an amzing aspect of daily life that people tend to underestimate. Though we can survive without it, it affects how we react or respond to things. Plus it makes food taste oh so much better. And even if there is no sense of smell, dolphins and whales found ways to adapt and find useful ways to make use of their nostrils. DNA is still quite the wonder, it continues to tell me new things i would have never expect. Especially how dna can control the sense of smell. Indeed DNA is an important aspect life, its role, functions, complicity, everything is mind-blowing. Overall this chapter was interesting, short, and straightforward.

Chapter 8: Making Scents

This chapter was pretty straight-forward. I learned that we can smell things because the molecules in the air go into our nose and attach to the mucous membrane. Then the receptors on the membrane take the molecules and transfer it to our brain, and then our brain tells us "sewer smells bad" or "dinner smells good". Each receptor is responsible for a specific molecule, so those smells with many molecules result in many signals (of molecules) sent to the brain.

The interesting thing about this chapter was that we have a lot of useless genes. It makes me curious to imagine life without being able to smell--how do dolphins and whales do it? So basically, smell is not a necessary component of life, it's more like luxury because obviously we can survive without it (i.e. Dolphins and whales). Well, this concludes my short post for a short chapter. :]

- Ejay Yuan

Hurry for Chapter Eight!

Okay. Now this is the shortest chapter... and the last one we have to post online. This just made my day. Alright, so for chapter eight, I though it was the most interesting chapter because the information came into my brain easily. This chapter was really concise and gave me all the necessary information I needed. Smelling is one of the thing I love to do! Also, I have great smelling skills that I could seriously know what kind of food is for dinner right in my room. It was interesting to learn that our smelling scents came from our DNA's and three percent of our genes are dedicated to smelling. Also, I never new how fish would smell underwater until I read this chapter. I was truly fascinated. After I read this chapter, I imagined what it would be like if our smelling scents were located in other parts of our body... and I think that wouldn't be so great. This concluded the end of my online post.

Chapter 8- Making Scents

HOOOOORAY! It is the last and final chapter left to blog! I will just start off saying how beneficial blogging has been to my reading experience of Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. I really enjoyed the process of blogging throughout the last couple chapters and reading what other's opinions and thoughts about the book!

Chapter 8 was definitely one of the top chapters that I enjoyed reading the most partly because it was the shortest, but mostly because it was the most simplest chapter to fully grasp. It was also one of the most fascinating chapters. Shubin spoke a lot about our sense of smell, which really intrigued and fascinated me. It is interesting that we as humans along with other animals are able to smell many different objects and identify them with our sense of smell. One fun fact that I thought was interesting was just as Bryan Munar said, was that fish are able to smell underwater! That is so weird, yet so intriguing to think about.... I wonder how crucial the fish's sense of smell is for its ability to stay alive underwater! Then he explains about the two types of smelling genes- above water and under water. It's so trippy (so to speak) to imagine living life under water and the differences of each type of smelling gene. Does it work the same way? Regardless, that part was very interesting and really made me stop and think :)

Another fun fact that Shubin shared was that we, as humans favor sight over smell. Because of this, the animals in previous generations passed down genes that were not as functional anymore.

Chapter 8 was a chapter full of interesting facts and I hope that although we are not blogging anymore, I will still enjoy the rest of the book in the same way that I have for the first eight chapters!

Chapter 8 - Making Scents

This chapter was reallyy amazing!! I was so happy that it was easy to understand and not confusing. The idea of no more blogging is bittersweet lol. I'm happy that this is the last blog entry because now i have less work to worry about. But at the same time I'm sad because blogging actually helped me understand the concept of the book because I was able to share my opinions and thoughts. And if I didn't understand something I could look at one of my classmates' blogs and try to make sense of the concept.

Okayy now let's talk about Inner Fish! :) The concept of this chapter was really interesting because I was able to learn more about a simple idea like smell! I liked how Shubin explained the process of extracting DNA from bodies. I found it funny how he related it to the kitchen and started to list all the ingredients we need. haha. The process was incredible! Shubin is absolutely right when he mentions that smell brings back memories from a long time ago. Just yesterday I was cleaning out my closet and I found some old clothes that my cousins gave me a couple years back. The scent of those clothes reminded me of my cousins house and the great times I had over there. It especially reminded me of my cousin who makes baked oreos. yummyy! lol. I liked how Shubin started to relate Tiktaalik's nostrils to human nostrils. This was helpful because the more comparisons Shubin makes to fishes the more I will remember them. I found it SURPRISING when Shubin explained that lampreys and hagfish have BOTH air and water genes! lol. That's really unique. :) Lastly, I found the ending quote of the chapter funny, "That baggage is a silent witness to our past; inside our noses is a veritable tree of life" (pg.147). I think this quote is a good way to understand our noses and end the chapter.

Chapter 8: I can smell my feet underwater

First of all, I cannot believe this is the last post we have to post on this blog!! I'm kind of happy because I don't have to include this in my dailiy homework routine, but I will miss sharing my thoughts on this blog - it really shows me what I've learned. Although I won't be posting anymore posts, I will definitely read the book to the end (or else I will feel incomplete...sorry I'm OCD like that). Anyways, back to the book!

This has got to be my most favorite chapter of all the chapters in this book. First of all, it's the shortest :). Second of all, he talked about our sense of smell which always intrigues me. I was fascinated by the fact that fishes can smell underwater. I thought they just had gills and that was that!! Well, who knew. What else surprised me was that 3% of our entire genome is devoted to our "smelling genes". Oh wow, that's a lot! Basically, this chapter fascinated me more than all the chapters combined (and I am exaggerating LOL). I admire Shubin for keeping me hooked on reading about biology this summer and I actually learned something! There's something about crafty scientists who write national best-selling books :)

- BryanMunar

Chapter 8: Making Scents

From what I see so far, Shubin really loves puns.

What I loved, from this chapter, is how he tells us how easy it is to acquire DNA.

I did not know that DNA also involves our senses of smell, but I thought it only to be body parts and muscles and ligaments, etc. When I read how the brain and the nose work together to create smells, I was impressed. If "each receptor is tuned to a different kind of molecule," then we must have a huge number of receptors in our nasal passage. And if receptors were the size of marbles, I'm pretty sure we'd all look like big-headed geniuses.

I wonder if you can stimulate your receptors on trigger, so that you can combine different smells on purpose. Triggering pot roast and gravy and mashed potatoes and fried chicken and Korean beef all at once, my head would probably explode with flavors but it'd be worth it.
But then, how do fish smell? How do they extract odors from water?

The last thing Mr Shubin said shed light on disabled people. Just as how blind people can hear/smell better really emphasizes how we traded smell for sight. All our senses are in equilibrium, but when one fails the others take over.

chapter eight

This chapter was very interesting. Fish have noses? Who knew...well I guess since sharks have noses, fish having them makes sense. The fact that water noses and air noses are different really interested me. After reading this far, I sort of wish i was a fish. Also, like EVERYONE ELSE said already, I liked the brevity and simplicity of this chapter. And even though were not blogging anymore I just have to know the end. (It's probably something really intense). YAY LAST POST :)

Do Not Blog Past Chapter 8!

First, I want to thank all of you who dillignetly blogged for the past two months through the summer and I hope you are taking something with you from this assignment. I will not require that you blog past chapter 8 this year because I am going to be without a home computer for a few weeks and I will not be able to read consistently what you are blogging about.
Enjoy the last two weeks of summer and really take the time to uderstand the Ecology chapters so that you will do well on your first test.... We will hit the ground running this year and I do not want anybody to fall behind.

Thank you,
Mr. Tisor

Ch 9: Dude you smell like a fish!

First of all I'd like to say is that I LOVE SHUBIN'S CONFIDENCE UPON HIMSELF! He begins talking about the revolutionary scientist and their careers and then he compares them to himself, then making the comment "I was made to feel that, because of my love of fossils, i was going to be replace by one of those new automated DNA sequencers". I thought it was funny because he doesn't even argue that he was not going to be replaced he just accepted it, but in the end he was still around. Well anyways, this chapter was very interesting because well it concentrated on what and how we smell. I didn't know that each scent has its own place to go to inside a sac in our head. I thought that it was amazing that we could even have that many smell cells. Also i thought it was pretty cool that the lung fish is even more related to us than i thought. Who would have knew that it could smell us when we smell it. As far as Buck and Axel go, i thought their discovery was amazing! How in the world did they figure out we have so many smell genes? Did they crack skulls open and put it under a microscope? Well its still amazing how they made a glorious discovery. As i was reading i came to the part about the experiment of extracting DNA, i thought it was not possible but then i recalled i did it in chemistry and so i had to retry it. As i was doing the experiment i was getting more and more excited that i was going to see DNA but the ending was a major let down because i realized i didn't have a microscope. Anyways back to our noses, since mutation makes some of our olfactory genes useless, isn't there a way to reactivate these senses with medicine or through further mutation?

Chapter 8 - Making Scents

As everyone has said previously in their posts, I as well really enjoyed chapter because of its size and simplicity. It was straight to the point of the title of the chapter, however, in the beginning of the chapter, Shubin did just babbled on about his competition between anatomists and paleontologists. Besides that con of the chapter, it was actually one of my favorite chapters because its size, its simplicity, learning how easy it was to extract DNA form an animal, and how our nose works. I had no idea how easy it was to extract DNA and how complicated our nose was with all the receptors and odor genes.

Chapter Ocho - Tu Inner Pescado

I really enjoyed this chapter because, like everyone else said, it was easy to read, short, and to the point. I enjoyed it mainly because I love how we as animals are able to smell so many different objects and be able to identify them. I think that it is so interesting that just one body part is so imperative for our ability to live on the planet.

When Shubin got into the last couple pages of the chapter, he started to talk about how animals passed down genes that weren't functional anymore because we tend to favor sight over smell. I thought that that was pretty darn interesting. Who knew that our ancestors made it so we have functionless genes?

I really liked how he explained the two types of smelling genes: for water and for air. I've always wondered how fish can smell underwater, and how we can smell... above water. Ha. It was pretty cool.

- Courtney Inbody

Chapter 9: Vision

Chapter nine was the easiest chapter I have read so far. Shubin was quick and to the point when talking about eyes. At the beginning of this chapter Shubin descripes the fossil his friend brought him to. It was really cool how he Shubin was able to "see impressions of the whole animal, all the way down to the little shells it ate as its last meal" (149). Shubin takes up a long paragraph explaining how our eyes perceive light and create a picture for us in our brain; but the process happens simultaneously just like our sense of smell. The quick reaction our eyes, ears, or nose have from the external world sending signals to our brains is astonishing. When Shubin turned to explaining Gehring's experiment with the Pax 6, I became a little weirded out and disgusted by the concept of adding an eye some where it did not belong like on a wing. Ever since our eye dissection in the seventh grade, eyes have not been my favorite subject to study. I would rather look into eyes and see "romance, creation, and the windows into the soul" (157). :)

~Caroline Eskander

Chapter 8: Making Scents

This chapter was really simple and surprisingly short. How Shubin described extracting DNA from bodies, he made it sound so interesting and in his words: "incredibly easy". I found it cool how "our sense of smell helps us discriminate among five thousand to ten thousand odors" (141). How some odors connect impulses in our brains to past memories really shows what our mind stores up for us. The description of the "lock-and-key mechanism" amazes me because it reacts simultaneously. Shubin later goes on explaining how three hundred of the thousand genes are rendered completely functionless by mutations. Even though we devout three percent of of our genome to odor we do not use much of it. Yoav Gilad found out that mammals who have color vision have large numbers of knocked-out smell genes. I immediately thought to myself "That's why dogs are color blind and their sense of smell is extraordinary". I guess God likes balancing out His creations :).

~Caroline Eskander

Making Scents

This chapter, being particularly short, finally interested me when Shubin began talking about how we actually smell things and how it works as a lock and key mechanism, just like it said on The Magic School Bus:D. What surprised me was that "a particular odor might involve lots of different kind of molecules" because I had always believed that there were just certain types of odor molecules that just flooded into our nose going to our brain. But Shubin as always with his analogies helped facilitate this concept stating that smell is like a chord in music, "our brain perceives these different impulses as one smell".

Also fascinating is how even the smelling function could be used to prove the "water to land transition" as there were two types of smelling genes: one for "picking up chemical scents", while the other "specialized for air".

Also when Shubin said that a whole bunch of our odor genes were knocked out for sight, this statement made me wonder such as what happens to blind people from birth, are their odor genes still knocked out. As "primates gained color vision while losing large number of olfactory genes" is this why dogs have such good senses of smell? HAHAH.

Chapter 8-- Making scents

I like how Shubin focuses on various aspects going from layers of rocks,
tiktaalik, body development, teeth, our sense of smell, and etc.
I also really liked how Shubin exemplified a mini experiment that
will help the readers obtain a greater understanding of DNA through
such a fun hands-on activity. What really caught my interest was when
Shubin mentioned that our sense of smell allows us to discriminate
among five thousand to ten thousand odors! What's even better is the
fact that three percent of our genes are reserved only for our sense
of smell!! WOW. Who would've expected that our sense of smell is THAT
significant. I like how Shubin answers my question by going right to
"where our olfactory genes come from". It's such a waste that three
hundred of thousand genes end up being function-less. To put everything
together, Shubin profoundly discusses how necessary our sense of smell
is to every living creature in this world.

The Olfactory

This was an easy chapter to read. He structured everything so simplistically that it made reading this chapter a bit more easy. It was interesting to learn about the path our smelling sense took throughout the years.

"We humans are part of a lineage that has traded smell for sight"(147). It is profoundly captivating to learn how our bodies decided to turn off the function of a few olfactory genes due to our evolved sense of sight. In addition, it's nice to know that we have a few genes in our bodies that are completely useless to us. On another note, primates also have a keener sense of sight, rather than smell. This also helps us create another similarity with primates, which further concludes that humans do have some similarities with less evolved animals. This was probably the most interesting topic that Shubin discussed in this chapter.

However, I would still like to know as to why dolphins and whales have completely lost their sense of smell.. Does this mean that they have a superior sense of sight? All in all, this was a fairly easy and interesting chapter.

chapter eight- smell that?

So this chapter was on the olfactory senses, and I have to say this was one of my favorite chapters because of how interesting it was. Again we can trace our sense of smell to more primitive organisms because it seems as though our olfactory senses are just multiples and copies of the more primitive genes. I was shocked about the fact that we as humans have many genes that deal with our smell senses (a whopping 3% of our DNA!!) but have been mutated so much they are rendered useless, yet we still have an amazing sense of smell. What I find most unbelievable is the fact that dolphins and whales have the same amount of olfactory genes as other mammels yet none of them function. For me, the question was not how but why? The blowhole where the olfactory senses are found is now only used for breathing and not smelling, and so therefore smell was not a necessity anymore and so the mutations were just passed down from generation to generation. I loved this chapter because of the idea that humans really made a trade-off when developing our senses; we traded more acute sense of smell for a more developed sense of sight, which was a more important development. Like Megan said, a good example would be dogs. Dogs see only in black and white yet can smell at such greater and more developed levels than most other animals, so therefore they made the trade down the line of evolution to focus on smelling rather than seeing. I loved this chapter because it was very to the point, I mean I understood the concept of how the olfactory senses work in one of the shortest chapters of the book with no questions! Shubin really amazes me with how he keeps me entertained while explaining difficult concepts at the same time.

By the way, the meat soup idea sounded amazing so I'm going to do it before the end of the summer :]

chapter 9

I'm going to be in mammoth next week so I'm doing chapter 9 now.

The beginning description of the eye and all the parts in it reminded me of seventh grade science. I remember dissecting the sheep's eye and how pretty the retina was or maybe it was the iris. I just remember how colorful it was, gray but had a rainbow sheen to it. I got kind of lost in this chapter. The part on tissue confused me because I couldn't really understand what he was trying to connect us too. The section of genes freaked me out a bit. I didn't know someone could be born without their eyes. To be blind is one think but to not have eyes all together is terrifying. It's even more terrifying however to picture a creature with multiple eyes. To have an eye just pop up wherever you want is just disturbing, like something you'd see in a horror movie

chapter 8

So I'm really tempted to try and separate DNA from something. I mean it made it sound pretty simple and really cool to see. I'm not so sure what meat tenderizer is though, or what my mom will think if she sees me blending up a bunch of random stuff, which I'm guessing doesn't look to pretty all mixed together. Still, I kind of want to see that goopy white ball.
I found it pretty interesting how our sense of smell is so precise. The analogy of smell to music reminded me of a very random discussion we had in chemistry of a lady who could smell music. That's just so amazing to me! It must be horrible listening to the radio though, a song goes on you don't like and all of a sudden there's a bad odor in the car.
The diagrams in the chapter reminded me of the pictures of monkeys turning into humans, except this time it was an eel like fish transforming to a human. Does the diagram mean we evolved in that order or we all just have the ability to smell in common? It feels weird to think i descended from a rat.
This chapter was a lot less technical then the others were and really reminded me of an episode of the magic school bus. I learned a lot of my biology from that show growing up. It's pretty cool how we can find out so much of our past just from the ability to smell. I'm a little confused from the part on dolphins and whales. Can they smell or did they give that up to breath? The trade off for sight instead of smell was interesting and does it mean blind people have more odor genes activated?

Chapter 8 - The Ol' Olfactory

I really like the process that Shubin describes how to actually separate DNA in your own kitchen. I've always felt that laboratory science was so hard to duplicate; reading this made me feel like part of science. If I have time this week, I'm definitely going to try this out.

As Shubin described the process of smelling, I felt really involved in it (having just finished a delicious lunch). Just a single tiny molecule of an organism that finds its way up your nose and into your brain can trigger your sense of smell. I find that amazing. It is astounding to discover that 3% of all of our genes is devoted ONLY to smell. As mentioned, "the smell of tasty food gets us hungry; the smell of sewage makes us feel ill" (Shubin 140).

It's interesting how Shubin says that humans have given up their sense of smell for their sight. Now that I think about it, it's probably true. An example would be dogs: while their sense of sight is nearly colorblind, they have an amazing sense of smell.

~Megan Hsiao

[ch7]

I loved the way the author wrote in this chapter. I would say he used a lot of rhetorical and artful use of words. Shubin is very good at attracting the reader's mind because he knows what we want to know by asking about the bodies' origin and the reason why they exist. I believe the subtitle "Habeas Corpus: Show me the Body," was an attention getter and it hooked me. It is fabulous to me that human beings' history takes only the last day out of an year calendar, and I can't believe creatures with body existed since October.
I totally agreed on how Shubin says "Timing is everything," and I would rephrase it as "Time is gold," because he says the progress of time allows a person to build or found something great, but at the same time, the antecedent's work could also become useless. He compares this to the ihstory of life. I am 150% for sure that if we have bodies right now and the primitive creatures didn't, then in far future, there will be creatures that will possibly have wings and fins at the same time.
-Jeffrey Jun

I feel smaller than an Atom.

So I don't keep track of time during summer, so I'm again sorry for forgetting that it was saturday. Anyways, chapter 7 came as a shock to me because Shubin compared the body building to a house construction. The other thing that came as a shock to me was how small Shubin makes us feel. Humans are literally nothing to the Earth when looked at from a chronological angle. The fact that life appeared on the planet over 600 million years ago shows me that we really don't have any right to call this planet "ours". Anyways, this was a very long chapter, and I actually found myself breezing past it. Shubin again made it easy to read with his vivid explanations of even the most difficult of things. Looking ahead, I can see that now Shubin is going to focus on the primary subject of the body, such as the senses and our main body parts.
, Anany

Chapter 7

The introduction to this chapter was a nice hook. I was immediately attentive to what the author was saying about the human body just KNOWING what to do in order to build itself. He used the metaphor of a house and how the blocks arranging themselves and building the house by themselves would be equivalent to how a human body builds itself.
I found Shubin's analogy of the timeline of humanity and the earth to be informative. I always had trouble with imagining all the different ages of earth and where all the significant points such as "animals with heads" and so on were pinpointed on the timeline, but I understand better now. I also found how the bone cells attach to one another. There are even some bone cells that only bind to the same kind of rivet. It's amazing how even the bone cells in our bodies know exactly what to do in order to build us.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 was a gold mine of figurative language. Especially with such abstruse information, the book is easier to read and understand because of Shubin's analogies and connections. When he compared the history of the earth to a year, starting on January 1st and ending on December 31st, I quickly understood that for half of earth's history, life consisted of single-celled organisms. Also, I learned that the breadth of time that humans have existed is insignificant to Earth's vast history.
Shubin also calls the force that holds cell together as "glue" which amused me. It also planted a chimerical image of a little boy creating life by "gluing" cells together, as if he were gluing pieces of scrap paper together to create a collage of life.
Then when he described cartilage as a Jello-like molecule that swells up with water and is bound by ropes of collagen. I always knew that collagen made our skin firm and as collagen broke down, we would get wrinkles. However, after reading this chapter, I realized that there are more signifcant roles for collagan than preventing wrinkles. Without collagen, our cartiliges would fail to do its job and we would probably be a bag of bones that are unable to move.
This chapter was probably my favorite chapter because it was easy to understand and Shubin illustrates his concepts in such a relatable way. I really appreciate how he isn't condescendingly pedantic, instead he makes analogies that are easily understood.
Oh yeah and I really like his reference to movies like The Blob and Fargo. Way to go Shubin!

Ch. 7 - Adventures In Bodybuilding

Chapter 7 was one of my favorite chapters in this book. Shubin talked about so many things about our body that I thought were fun and interesting. Once again, he made everything as simple as possible in order for the readers to understand easily. I love it when he makes analogies and compares difficult topics to things that we can relate to like in this quote, "A great analogy for the workings of our skeletons is a bridge" (124). My favorite part was when he was talking about the timeline of animals since the Precambrian period. I think it is amazing how all the parts of our body like the cells and tissues are able to work together as one system and keep balance within it. Also it's weird how we can compare and relate ourselves to creatures such as placozoans and sponges. All in all I thought this chapter was one of the most fun and informative chapters in the novel so far.

Chapter 7

It was so long chapter (T3T)

It was amazing chapter because the author describe development of cells like life of human.

According to the author, cells stick to each other in order to build up our body. At the same time, they communicate with other cells and get information about how to build body. Cells need to communicate because they need to know where they have to stay, when they have to split, when they have to die, and etc.

Human does same thing in their life. They stick with other people and make community. In the community, they communicate each other and get information that they need.

Even though the author did not mention about the human's community, I like the author's expression because I found the relation between cells and human.

Ch. 7

The connection between a house and a body makes it clear to me that what makes a body special is the way the cells spontaneously come together to form a body. I never knew cells had a special "glue" that sticks them together. In addition, I never knew that we had special "pads" between our joints that makes exercising easier for our bodies. I feel sorry for people with arthritis because almost everything they do with their afflicted joint recoils with pain. I was shocked to learn that the cave man is actually not so old as I thought they were. The first signs of life are many many times older than the first human and that dumbfounded me. What captured my mind in reading this chapter was when Shubin discussed the way cells "talk" to each other. I only thought nerves were the only cells that communicate through their signals, but then I found out almost all cells talk to each other. I wish I could talk to my cells to command them to do as I please. The last piece of information Shubin provides for us is oxygen may be linked to the building of the body. I can see this connection because all animals need oxygen to survive. I wonder what would happen to the creation of bodies if people keep destroying plant-life in the future, thus depriving us of oxygen.

Ch. 7: Bodybuilding For Blobs!

Although it didn't really make any relations to fish this chapter, the comparison of single-celled microbes and the organisms of today caught my interest. The fact that one wrong cell can kill a person is pretty scary, but it is also incredible to know that our cells are capable of setting up our entire body the right way. I like how Shubin separated his discussion about bodies into three parts: When? How? Why? It made it a whole lot easier to follow what he was trying to explain. The comparison of earth's history to a single-year calendar helped a lot with getting a clear idea of how long organisms have gone on living without bodies. Shubin also talked about the purpose and structure of cartilage. Until now I only know it was the material on your earlobes and nose that could be pierced if you wanted. The placozoan seems like a strange creature, and I think I remember seeing one in a Youtube video. I'm not sure it was the same thing, but it did remind me of a blob, and it was a living breathing animal. I got a little confused with the choanoflagellates. Since Shubin brought up the large gap between the time of the first living organisms and the first with bodies on earth's "calendar", I wondered why in the world it took so long for bodies to develop. Shubin easily answered my "why" question at the end of the chapter: oxygen. That made me feel a little stupid. Of course there wasn't enough oxygen for multi-celled organisms back then :p Well all in all I really enjoyed this chaper.

~Bryanna Streeter :)

Ch. 7- Bodybuilding for dummies!

The first thing I noticed when I read this chapter was that there wasn't much talk about "my inner fish". I wondered after all this time of talking about fish now Shubin is finally going to start making some sense to the normal human. I enjoy how he relates the different parts of the body to other well known things such as bridges, sponges, and others of the sort. What really caught my attention was the tiny section about cartilage and the constant pounding of running. XD Most of this chapter was anatomical facts and geological development that I already knew so it was easy to understand with a little taste of freshmen biology class.

Shubin really put in to perspective the timeline of the earth's development when he compared it to the calendar year. It was shocking that life has only begun around June and the development of people occurred on the last day. I think he did a good job wrapping up the chapter by relating it back to geological development during the oxygen-plenty times and the blossoming of life. As for the theory of evolution, the timeline and body structure development are strong evidence that fit like a pearl into its oyster.

Chapter 7

Shubin started off this chapter by catching my interest at the very first page. It talked about him looking through a microscope and observing how an embryo went through its developing stages. He used the colors of dyes to elucidate the progression of the embryo. Eventually, the embryo matured and developed bones which is produced by the cells clumping together. What also caught my eye was the figure on page 121. As students, we have been taught again and again that humans' arrival were delayed. However, after Shubin's analogies and the time chart, I had an epiphany. Humans can be considered as mere toddlers compared to the other life forms that arrived earlier. Also, Shubin explains why microbes soon created bodies for themselves; it was an act of self-defense. The microbes started to feed on each other and defensive mechanisms were becoming more reliant. These microbes that started the transformation to bodies led to humans today. The irony is, the microbes that created out very bodies to defend themselves have made humans on the top of the food chain. Microbes fought for life, while humans enjoy leisure and food from the market.

Touch My Body

This was by far the most interesting chapter Shubin has produced. This book divulged into the creation of the complex structure that is the body; however, it put this complicated process in simpler terms. Shubin also makes a lot of elucidative references to presently existing primitive organisms. These examples are extremely helpful in understanding this material. I actually enjoyed reading this chapter.

'At first, they crawled around on the surface of the dish. Then, something surprising happened: the cells came together" (131). Ill admit that the nerd in me came out at this very instant. This quote left me agape. The idea that this organism came together to form a more complex being is fascinating. In addition, the idea that our bodies came about due to predation is extremey captivating, and the experiment that showed the cells fuse into a bigger mass to avoid engulfment was extremely helpful in understanding all of this material.

Finally, making the big connection between sponges and man was the cherry on top of a very rich informative cake. The idea that sponges are just a much more simple version of man was humbling. They have rivets just like man, and they have collagen and cartillage. I really enjoyed learning about rivets, and how our bodies communicate to make sure that they connect with the right cells to form the right organ.

Hopefully, Shubin hasn't exhausted his interesting topics, this might be a hard chapter to beat.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven described the perfect way that the body is formed and assembled. Every single body part has its assigned place and use. Our body is perfectly built and our proportions evenly made. If even one chromosome forms incorrectly our bodies would become less capable of working. Shubin presents this amazing feat in our creation. It took so many "months" to make us. Our bodies and minds are just that extraordinary. It is because of these facts that I believe it is so unlikely that we could come from animals. We are similar to many creatures in so many ways but it does not maen they are part of our genology. Though we are not related to these various animals its amazing how similar we are in structure and embreyos. It was very interesting to read about the uterus and how pregnancy works. All the pictures explained so much that even the most detailed explainations couldn't have. The only negative thing about viewing the pictures is that I now realize how ugly we humans look at 4 weeks old (103). I dislike this repeatative comparison of us to flies I think it is rather degrading. Despite this books ups and downs it is over all good and interesting.

Chapter 7 ^.^

As always, Shubin manages to lure me into the chapter by starting off with an interesting topic or story about his life. This time it was the story about “literally watching an animal being built” (116). That’s SOO cool!!! It makes me want to go into paleontology! But I most likely won’t… but I would like to be able to experience seeing an animal being built. I wonder if seeing the formation of an animal is actually like seeing the creation of a building. What also intrigues me is the fact that if something goes wrong with just ONE cell then it can result many problems including death. D: The way he described that ONE cell as rebellious or bully cell kind of made me laugh yet feel worried about me possibly having a bully cell. When Shubin used January 1^st as the start of time and December 31^st as today I was impressed, then that changed to astonished when he said the first animal with a head appeared in October. I learned another important fact about oxygen: increased oxygen levels = increased appearance of bodies. I have to admit that learning about collagen, cartilage proteoglycan was confusing. Then he compared it to a giant piece of jell-o and tug-of-war and I understood 50x better; yet another reason to be thankful to Shubin.

-Julia

p.s. I will be going on vacation to Rome, Italy and my blog for next week will be delayed for a couple of days