Ch. 5: Getting Ahead

Once again in chapter 5, shubin has shown me how devoted and passionate he is about his work. When he was talking about the structures of our head I remember the plates that cover our brain and how these large plates were separated when we were born. Which explains the reason why infants have such soft heads. I learned so much through this chapter about our bone structures and our senses and nerves. Such as how the trigeminal is hte major nerve for sensation in the face. The reason why a slap in the face hurts is all thanks to the trigeminal nerve. Once again Shubin compared us to to an animal, this time, a shark. Shubin began explaining the structures a shark has and how our embryos are very similar. What really caught my attention was when Shubin said, "Bones that support the upper and lower jaws in sharks are used in us to swallow and hear". Furthermore, he also stated, "The muscles and cranial nerves weuse to swallow and talk move the gills in sharks and fish". Shubin also began talking about genes such as the Otx and Hox genes andhow when we change the genetic address of a fill arch into another such as a frog embryo, you can get frog that has two jaws! I never knew that genetic addressess could have such a powerful impact. For some reason i feel like i have learned the most through readin chapter 5 of Shubin's book so far. I am intrested in what more he has to say.