People all over the United States are being convicted of crimes they did not commit every day. One of these cases was a man named Derrick Williams. He wrongfully convicted of Kidnapping, Sexual Battery, Robbery, Grand Theft Motor Vehicle and Battery.

A white adult female pulled up to her house at 5:30 at night. She saw a black man standing on her porch with a white rage in his hand. She proceeded to get out of the car but as she did the man pushed her back into the car, put her in a headlock and punched her in the face. He drove her to an orange grove and sexually assaulted her in the back of her car. The assailant stepped out of the car to smoke a cigarette and the woman escape and drove away in her car. She drove away with his white cloth and his t-shirt.

Law enforcement collected numerous pieces of physical evidence and even though there was the possibility of conducting DNA tests they were not conducted. The victim described the attacker as being between 5’6” and 5’8” and Derrick is 5’11”. Also the victim described her attacker as having a scare on his “gut” and Derrick had a scare but it was on his back.

 Derrick was at a barbeque that night and he left 55 minutes after the crime had been committed. However the women said that he was her rapist so they brought derrick to trail and he was convicted and sentenced to prison.

In order to correctly compare DNA figure prints we had to learn how to correctly run an electrophoreses lab. We had to understand how to compare the results that we found and know how the lab worked. We had to know the different types of DNA to know what to us for DNA finger-printing.

In 1865 Gregor Mendel used peas to discover the laws of segregation, Independent assortment, Dominance.

In 1915 TH Morgan discovered that there are 4 parts to chromosomes. He also figured out the genes are inherited in families.

1941 Beadle and Tatum created the one gene, one enzyme hypothesis. This hypothesis stated the impact that enzymes can have in genetic mutation.

In 1947 Erwin Chargoff discovered the pairings of A, T and C, G is the same for all species.

In 1953 Watson and Crick created the description of 3-d structure of DNA.

1958  Meselson and Stahl found discovered that you could replicate DNA in a lab form parent DNA.

1977 Walter Gilbert and Allen Maxam devise a method for sequencing DNA.

1980 US Supreme Court rules that life forms can be patented.

Kary Mullis develops PCR and sells patent for $300M in 1991.

1982 The USFDA approves sale of genetically engineered human insulin.

1983 An automated DNA sequencer is developed.

1984 Alec Jeffreys introduces technique for DNA fingerprinting to identify individuals.

1989 National Center for Human Genome Research created to map and sequence all human DNA by 2005.

1995 The first full gene sequence of a living organism is completed for Hemophilus influenza.

O.J. Simpson is found not guilty despite DNA evidence.

1996 Genome of Sacharomyces cerevisiae is sequenced.

1997 Dolly cloned from the cell of an adult ewe.

DNA microarray technology developed.

1998 The first animal genome (C. elegans) is sequenced.

1999 1,274 biotechnology companies in the United States.

At least 300 biotechnology drug products and vaccines currently in human clinical trials.

Human Genome Project is on time and under budget, the complete human genome map expected in five years or less.

This story has changed my perspective on the ligitimasy of our justice system. This story showed me that even though the courts had the opertunity to conduct DNA tests they chose to rely on an eye witness account which inevitable ended with an innocent man going to prison. This demonstriantes the excessive use of eyewitness accounts when science could simply prove the answer. This unit showed me the power that science holds. When I was younger I liked science but I didn’t know how it could be used and this unit showed me that science can but used to protect people and free people.

Lucy Reflection

             This story is about an experiment that was conducted to see how human an animal could become. A social worker and a social psychiatrist adopted a baby chimpanzee and from the day the chimpanzee came home they treated it as though it was human. They named the chimp Lucy and by one year old she was dressing herself and eating at the dinner table with silverware. A male chimpanzee was introduced to Lucy however she did not show interest in him. Lucy also learned sign language to talk to her parents and a graduate student that the couple had been using to teach Lucy.

             Once Lucy became older and stronger the parents knew that soon they would no longer be able to control her so the brought Lucy along with a collage graduate to Africa to release her into the wild. They brought her to a wildlife sanctuary but Lucy would not let go. She began showing signs of stress such as loss of hair so the graduate decided to stay a couple more weeks to try and get Lucy more comfortable with the wild. That few weeks turned into three years. Eventually she brought Lucy and other monkeys that had arrived to an island and after a few months Lucy became acquainted with her new surroundings and left the camp that was set up for the college graduate. A few months later she returned to find poachers had killed the Lucy.

            Transition was hard for Lucy because she had been socialized to act and feel like a human. She would have arguments on the island with the college grad because she did not want to go. Lucy showed us about the connections we share with apes and chimpanzees. She demonstrated the potential that chimpanzees have for becoming more human like and developing human traits. She also showed that we came from a common ancestor because she has the same ability to learn as humans do, due to the fact that she has similar structures as humans. I want to learn more about the similarities of the brain that we share with chimpanzees and how they react to situation such as a confrontations or a puzzle. I also want to learn more about the progressions is the brain that let chimpanzees learn.

My name is Jack Hewitt and I am a sophomore at Animas High School. This is my second year in Durango, Colorado. I moved here from a small island called Martha's Vineyard. located off the coast of Massachusetts. In this blog I will be posting work I have completed in Biology.