Last Post !

I found chapter eight to be not that interesting but not boring either. It was straight forward and to the point which I like. I liked how he talked about how we can experiment with DNA, though I don’t see what blending meat has to do with smell genes. Axel and Bucks’ hypotheses all make sense to me. There are different types of smells, so there has to be different types of genes. It is funny that something that helps us, like our vision, can actually take away from another benefit, like our ability to smell. Then I began to think of all the smells that we humans are missing out on. Like I said last week, I don’t believe in evolution therefore it is hard to believe that we are more similar to primates.
So the first page and half of chapter nine, I got really excited. I thought finally we get to hear about Shubin’s other experiments; and this one has to do with an eye. And as I kept switching from page to page my disappointment grew. Shubin kept going on about how the eye works and what the different parts do to help your vision. And that some animals see black and white, while others see in color. Or that humans rely on sight more than any other sense. And most of this information I have already been taught. It was boring for me and very difficult to not skip ahead. The only thing that I found interesting was the flies and mice being born with parts of their eyes missing. Or that the mice gene could help a fly grow another eye. That concept of DNA mutations does interest me and get me to pay attention, but that was the only thing in this chapter.
Just like the last chapter, chapter ten was really about the functions of the ear and what it does to benefit different species. But, in this chapter, I didn’t know a lot about what ears did to benefit anyone besides being able to hear. I couldn’t believe that the ear helps mammals measure their speed; or fish can depict which direction the water is traveling. I didn’t really know how alcohol affected you, (I mean I know the side effects from health class) but I didn’t know that the alcohol remains in your inner ear and that is why a person can become dizzy or can’t walk in a straight line. I was interesting to hear about the functions and all that ears can do for you. But it is still hard for me to picture how reptiles and mammals are alike in ear structures.
When I saw the title of chapter eleven, I was excited. Finally the last chapter to pull of the information together. And the truth is, I was lost most of the time. Shubin began by explaining the importance of categorizing species. And that mutations are how creatures evolved and that we are all somehow related. These explanations seemed to take forever; I kept waiting for him to get to the point. Then Shubin moves into talking about how illnesses are because we humans are lazy now and when we were primates we were always active. I was lost at this point and didn’t really know where Shubin was taking this. And then Shubin began to talk about how different humans’ sex organs are from sharks and fish; again I was lost and didn’t know what he was talking about. And then finally on the last paragraph I finally got what I was waiting for; the conclusion. That the discoveries help us to make the future better. I’m glad that the conclusion was simple but I was annoyed that it took twenty pages to say it.