Answers, reading, extra credit, etc.

Answers: Here's the answer key to the first exam.

Readings: And here's the evolsphere blog post on lactase persistence.

Extra Credit: If you are interested in the public forum on evolution next Tuesday, either go to the panel discussion or listen to it online and write up a 1 page summary for me.  I'll give you an extra credit point for the effort.

Nigerian milk drinkers: I couldn't find much more information on lactase persistence in Nigeria, but the estimates I found range from 85%-99% intolerant.  Also, it appears possible that gene flow from the Fulani (who are only 33% intolerant) may increase frequencies of the lactase persistence allele in Nigeria.  Perhaps our classmates are among the minority when it comes to lactose?

Goat's milk: There's lots of info online about the differences between goat and cow milk.  One is that goat's milk has less lactose.  Others may or may not be meaningful.  I'm not willing to endorse any of the studies I found, so I'll let you search for yourself. 

Presentation Schedule

Just a reminder, here's the date that you signed up for for your presentation.  Also remember that you need to talk to me about a topic 2 weeks before your presentation--that means Oct 14th presenters need to talk to me this week.

Oct 7: Kristal, Monsurat & Yvonne

Oct 14: Karen, Diep-Thuy

Oct 21: Toan, Dueart

Oct 23: Taha, Tuyet, Aaron

Nov 11: Will, Ashley

Nov 18: Fiorella, Sade

Nov 20: Greg, Rishika

Nov 25: Brandi, Chase

Readings and such

With the test and all today, I forgot to remind you that there is a reading for Monday that is not out of your book.  There is a link to it to the right; it's a news feature from Nature, by Erika Check titled, "How Africa learned to love the cow."

In other news, I want to let you know that you guys rocked the exam.  The mean is around 85, and so far no one has below a middle-C (I'm still finishing up a little grading, but I don't think that will change much).  Nice job!  I expect the same from you for the rest of the semester...

Study, study

I expect you all to ace the exam.  I'll help however I can (except by making the exam easy...).  I'll be in my office 2-3pm tomorrow (Wednesday).  Please come by if you have questions or want to go over any of the material.

Here are the answers to the practice exam posted earlier:  Practice exam answers.

Feel free to post questions here, but be forewarned that I am still without internet at home, so I won't be able to answer after about 6:00 pm on Wednesday.  But you can always help each other out if you are so inclined.

Good luck.

Ike effects

Thank you to those of you who made it to class today.  Those of you that couldn't, I hope that you are safe and recovering smoothly.  I know that things are a mess now, and I will try to do what I can to help out from this end.

• First, there was no lecture today.  We watched a brief video instead.  If you did not make it to class please watch this before thursday, if you can.  Go here, then watch the video titled, "Cholera: Domesticating Disease."
  
• Second, your homework will be due on Tuesday, 23 Sept., not this thursday as originally scheduled.  The exam will be next Thursday, 25 Sept., as scheduled.
  
• Finally, the syllabus has been updated.  Please check there for the new schedule.
  

Antibiotic videos

Sorry for the technical challenges this morning, but here are the two videos you should watch (both about 10 min):

And the evolutionary arms race.

If you missed class today because you were busy evacuating, please watch these videos, look over the slides, and get notes from someone who lives in a less flood prone area...

Stay dry.

What is alive?

Biologists on the verge of creating new form of life

(thanks Aaron for passing this along)

Homework and Signup

In case you missed class today, or came in late, here is the first homework assignment.

Also, on Thursday, we will sign up for presentation times.  Bring your calendars...

More phylogenetics

Here are the extra phylogenetics resources in an easier to access format:

Phylogenetics basics

A little more on reading and building phylogenies

Tree thinking quizzes (select 'download supplement')

Building trees with UPGMA

Questions answered

A couple of good questions came up in class today.  Here are answers to some of them.

1. HIV reverse transcription: does it result in double or single stranded DNA? Here's a great animation with more details of HIV replication.  Thanks Toan.  (The answer is that two rounds of transcription lead to double stranded DNA that gets integrated into the host genome.)

2. Are there relatives of HIV that infect species other than primates?  On Thursday we'll learn about SIV, but there are other lentiviruses that infect cats (FIV), cows (BIV), goats (CAEV), sheep (Visna), and horses (EIAV).  More info on these here.

If anyone finds more interesting info about the state of current research in HIV treatment, feel free to let us know by posting a comment.

Practice Exams

How do I study for this class?  Well, here's a start.  Here are the exams from last year.  The material this year will be slightly different, but you can get the general idea from these:

Exam1

Exam2

Final

I am purposefully posting these without the answers, so you can work through them yourself.  I will post the answers as we get closer to the relevant exam.