More than you want to know about protein synthesis

How is it we can be comprised of only around 25 thousand genes (26,383 according to this site, but who's counting?), when scientists estimated we would have between 80 to 150 thousand?  Alternative splicing- where one gene can be cut and pasted into different versions to make different proteins (video explanation here).  It's estimated that 30 to 60 percent of our genes undergo alternative splicing, and may make 5 or 6 different proteins.  It's also the case that many (if not most) genetic disorders involve faulty splicing.  Some forms of Alzheimers and prostate cancer, for example, are caused by this.

Furthermore, all mammals share basically the same genes, but different numbers of "tandem repeats" seem to be behind the diversity of species.

Here's a primer on the genetic code and videos explaining transcription and translation and the genetic code.

Click on the diagram below for a series of tutorials on the central dogma of molecular biology:

What to expect in America...

What people say about us gives us an insight into who we are, at least in terms of how we are perceived.  You may or may not agree or identify with these observations, and remember they are all coming from a particular cultural perspective, but here goes:


1. Japanese:  http://mentalfloss.com/article/55140/10-japanese-travel-tips-visiting-america

2.Russian:  http://mentalfloss.com/article/54461/4-russian-travel-tips-visiting-america

3) This one isn't targeted to any particular group, so the observations are a bit more sweeping in their generalizations:
http://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/american-culture-and-behavior.html

4) This one is VERY basic, almost common sense.  But worth remembering wherever you go.
http://usatravel.about.com/od/Plan-Your-Trip/tp/Dos-And-Donts-For-USA-Travel.htm

5) http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.com/?p=2741

6) http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?t=59094

The Curious Geography of American Greetings and High School Matriculation

What we mean when we say "Where are you from?":



http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/02/what-we-mean-when-we-say-hello/283860/

Here is a commentary about a corollary to the question:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/02/why-we-never-get-over-high-school/284026/

Geopolitics: The Most Important Alliance You've Never Heard Of

From The Atlantic:



http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/the-most-important-alliance-youve-never-heard-of/283877/

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious spring by this sun of York...

I've mentioned in some of my classes recently that British archaeologists had found the skeleton of Richard III a year or two ago.  Well, now he's back in the news:

Scientists Hope to Sequence Genetic Code of Richard III

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/world/europe/scientists-to-try-to-sequence-richard-iiis-genetic-code.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=WO_STT_20140212&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=1

Harvard Business Review: An Anthropologist Walks Into a Bar...

Applied Anthropology Goes to Harvard

Hot off the press folks-  just YESTERDAY the Harvard Business Review came in with an article about anthropology and other "soft" sciences being of value to the business community.  Businesses tend to be very quanitative in their approach to data collection, however they often find that the numbers don't give them all the information they need, so the qualitative approach of ethnographers benefits them greatly.

It would be nice if this meant that they actually went out and hired anthropologists and anthropology majors, so we'll see what becomes of this!

Here's a link to the article:   http://faculty.elgin.edu/mhealy/HBRAnthropology.pdf

Some maps and other items of interest...

Maps:
1) Outbreaks of measles and whooping cough and the anti-vaccine movement:
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-antivaccination-movement-20140120,0,5576371.story#axzz2stGJnx4W


2) Religiosity (or the lack of) in America:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/02/the-united-states-of-agnostics/283571/

3) Migration:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/12/10/1291992160962/US-immigration-new-001.jpg

American Migration [Interactive Map]

http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html

Global patterns with tables
http://globalbhasin.blogspot.com/2013/10/global-migration.html

Video:

What happens when all six billion chemical letters of your DNA can be stored and analyzed?

Watch "Cracking Your Genetic Code," streaming online, to find out.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/cracking-your-genetic-code.html



Articles:
Marketing, popular culture and the myth of orange juice:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/misunderstanding-orange-juice-as-a-health-drink/283579/

How US Policies Fueled Mexico's Great Migration:http://www.thenation.com/article/165438/how-us-policies-fueled-mexicos-great-migration

Globalization as seen by a T-shirt

"Planet Money"- a subsidiary of the nefarious Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has a lot to say about the t-shirts we all wear.

Check it out- this is fascinating.  And it gives us a great overview of globalization.

http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title

The Geography of the Olympics

THIS is Sochi?  Where isit againt? (We know it is in Russia, but THAT doesn't look like Russia).  Did you know that Sochi has a subtropical climate?  Pretty strange place to host the winter Olympics.  What's that all about?

Check out this Washington Post video explaining it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/04/the-sochi-olympics-explained-in-two-minutes/