What Matt Knows About the Human Body (based on prior knowledge and way too much time spent watching scrubs)

As of right now, my knowledge on the human body is limited, and most of it is derived from random bits and pieces of info that have accumulated in my mind over the course of my life as well as a bits and pieces from watching the TV show, "Scrubs." First off, the human body is a system. It is an intricate piece of machinery that is made up of many smaller systems that must all work in tandem in order to run smoothly. When one metaphorical cog in the machine malfunctions, it can cause negative affects across the board. Some of these systems within the human body include the nervous (cue the puns), circulatory, digestive and respiratory systems, among others. The circulatory system is one's blood. Blood is critical in delivering oxygen and other nutrients to different areas of the body. Muscles, for instance, need oxygen to operate. Now where does the blood get this oxygen, the curious child asks, well let me tell you. The oxygen must come from outside of the body, and it gets inside via the respiratory system. The respiratory system revolves around the lungs. When one inhales, they breathe in oxygen, among other things, and this oxygen is then carried through the blood stream. This illustrates the intricate interconnectedness of the human body. Systems rely on systems, and if system doesn't fulfill its duty, the others suffer as a result. The human body is like a well oiled machine, and it needs to prevent malfunctioning. This is done by the immune system which strives to prevent disease or sickness from falling upon the body. Although I am aware that the human body is a metaphorical interdependent machine, I am not at all educated on the specifics of how exactly the systems work perfectly in tandem. In this next segment, I will simply list random facts about the body that I know, and I hope that charging headfirst at this unit, metaphorically of course, will help me understand how all of the different facets of the human body are able to perform together as one.

Random Facts:

1. There are four compartments of the heart
2. The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland surrounding the larynx
3. A possibly malignant skin tumor can be differentiated from a benign mole by its appearance. Often, malignant moles will be darker in color and have indistinct borders.
4. The appendix is a non-essential organ and can be removed. This also applies to the gal bladder
5. Only one healthy kidney is needed to live
6. The liver has a lot of smooth endoplasmic reticulum
7. The small intestine is longer than the large intestine
8. Renal is a word that indicates association with the kidneys
9. The pituitary gland controls the thyroid gland
10. Blood travels through capillaries, arteries, and veins
11. Due to a process called peristalsis, the esophagus can move food towards the stomach even if the person is upside down
12. Heartburn has nothing to do with the heart
13. An air bubble to the jugular is lethal
14. When talking about blood, shock is an actual medical term that does not refer to a person being stunned mentally or emotionally
15. Most of the body is made up of water
16. One's wingspan is roughly equal in length to how tall the person is
17. I am nervous to learn about the nervous system. Zing!

I hope this post was satisfactory and if anybody feels the urge to comment, let me know who you think would win in a fight, Brock Lesnar or DinoCroc.

Taking a Minute to Reflect...............................

DISCLAIMER: A good chunk of the following information is based on the assumption that neither my siblings nor I am adopted.

This week, we have delved into the subject of Mendelian genetics. As part of this, we embarked on an experimental journey where we analyzed some of our own genetic traits as well as those of our parents and siblings. The traits that we evaluated included the ability to roll one's tongue, the presence or absence of a widow's peak, hitchhiker's thumb, and attached or unattached earlobes. In my family, everybody I tested had very similar results. The only difference was my brother Kevin has no widow's peak whereas everybody else does. This surprised me a little because I don't look similar to my sister or my brother but it turns out we share several traits. The only genotype I was able to confirm 100% was my genotype for hitchhiker's thumb which is homozygous recessive. Since hitchhiker's thumb is a recessive trait, in order for my phenotype to be a hitchhiker's thumb my genotype must be homozygous recessive. I was able to determine that both of my parents' genotype for the widow's peak is heterozygous since there is a mix of widow's peaks and no widow's peaks amongst my siblings and me. Since I was unable to analyze my grandparents and therefore unsure of my parents' other genotypes, I was unable to conclude my genotype for all of the other traits because the other traits I have that we looked at are all dominant so they could be homozygous dominant or heterozygous. While I was researching which traits were dominant, I learned that many of the more obscure genetic traits are actually dominant. One example of this is dwarfism. The word recessive sounds like it should be associated with less common traits, but this often is not true. Now please sit back, relax, and watch me take a whirl at making a (championship) pedigree for my family.



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