Difference between revisions of "Class Journal Week 6"

Revision as of 03:55, 2 October 2013

Lauren Magee

1. What was your initial, gut reaction to the “Stranger Visions” project?
   • My initial reaction was that this project was absolutely amazing and innovative! Then I started to wonder whether my hair had been sequenced, but then I realized I had never been to New York, so that was impossible. I suppose it does have a "creepy" factor to it as well, but I think the fact that our technology is so advanced to create a human face based off a strand of hair should be applauded and not criticized.
2. What kinds of data are stored in the biological databases used by “Stranger Visions,” and how are these used?
   • "Stranger Visions" uses past knowledge of certain "snips" to determine the facial features of an individual from their hair sample. "Snips" are sections on a gene that codes for specific phenotypes. "Stranger Visions" isolated the "snips" involved in facial formation and created a database based upon them.
3. What connections or similarities, if any, do you see between the tools and methods used by “Stranger Visions” and the tools and methods that you have been exposed to in this course?
   • The project uses DNA sequencing against database information to make informed decisions about a person's facial structure. We have done numerous activities with DNA sequences, including transcribing and translating nucleotides into amino acids. Through the knowledge of the amino acid sequences, we can determine what protein in coded for and what function it may serve in the individual. We can do this by looking at databases that contain information on protein functions.
4. Has your view of biological data, and what can be done with it, changed since the beginning of the semester? Why or why not?
   • My view of what can be done with biological data has definitely changed since the beginning of the semester. I struggle a lot with finding creative outlets in science, because before my college career, art had been a huge part of my life. In "Stranger Visions", especially, and in this course as a whole, I am getting invaluable exposure to projects that fuse more than one focus and allow for more than one passion to be expressed.

Laurmagee (talk) 02:36, 1 October 2013 (PDT)

Kevin Meilak

1. My initial reaction was a feeling of discomfort coming from the knowledge that almost anyone could perpetrate a massive invasion of privacy of anyone in a public place.
2. Stranger Visions uses gene sequences, procedural data, as well as single nucleotide polymorphisms all of which is used to recreate the faces of people from a DNA sample they have left in a public place.
3. The tools and methods in this video are similar to those we have been exposed to in the course. The person leading this project has to access gene databases, databases for single nucleotide polymorphisms, and databases of research materials to learn procedural information and interpretation of the sequences in order to recreate a person's face.
4. My view of biological data in and of itself has not changed; what has is what can be done with it. By using databases, one is able to not only access enormous quantities of information but use it to achieve anything from researching a particular protein to recreating a stranger's face.