Joanne's Blog for BIOL 520

What is evolution? I think in broad terms, evolution is how characteristics of a species can change over time due to natural selection. In the process of production, sometimes offspring do not end up look exactly the same as their parents due to variation. These differences in variation can either act beneficial or harmful depending on how it suits the environment. If there is a genetic mutation that causes the offspring to subsist on less water but they are in a wet climate, then that would be a harmful mutation in contrast to if the offspring were in a drier climate. So through natural selection, those with the those beneficial traits will survive and reproduce, changing the genes and its frequency, therefore, causing "evolution" if a species, at least to my best understanding.  Fact or theory? I think evolution is more of a theory than a fact. I think theories are meant to be larger explanation of what is supposedly fact. Since evolution is mean to be an explanation of how...

 My name is Joanne, and I am from Salina, KS. I have moved around quite a bit within Kansas, but that is the place of my current residence. I am really passionate about Psychology. Psychology really attracted me because there are aspects of it that can apply as a social science and as a "hard science" such as biology or chemistry. Psychology was a field that was interesting to me since I found myself between those two subject matters when I was trying to decide what my major should be. As someone who wants to go into the healthcare field, I think important to balance those two perspective as the scientific side of things can be sometimes more emphasized that the more relational aspects when it comes to being a doctor. I am currently in a neuroscience lab that studies the interaction of environmental conditioning on addiction, and the research has really opened my as to how much that lifestyles we were raised in can play a factor in our brains.  I think evolution/biology is fa...