In the Argument section on pages 45-47, Shenk explains the effects discovered of talking to young children often and very early. By observing the average number of words spoken to children of professionals, working class children, and welfare children, researchers showed that children growing up in professionals' homes were "exposed to an average of more than fifteen hundred more spoken words per hour than children in welfare homes" (45). This led to a higher level of vocabulary even before the kids started school, and in turn resulted in higher academic achievement. Taking advantage of the early development of children is critical to shaping a child; how does early gene expression and body development tie in to our embryology unit? Do you think that reading/playing music to babies still in the womb can affect gene expression? Why or why not?
-Akila Khan (starlight608@gmail.com)
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ReplyDeleteEarly gene expression fits in well with our embryology unit because gene expression is the basis of everything. The central dogma of biology describes how genes are expressed into proteins, which are the basis for our development. Genes control everything that goes on from conception to birth, shaping every part in a way unique to any other baby. This process is not dependent on the environment and there is very little GxE because there isn't much environmental activity going on inside the womb. However, if the Baby did experience factors from the outside like sound, those factors would influence its gene expression.
ReplyDeleteThe ears don't develop until week 18, and it doesn't start reacting to voice until week 25 (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-development/PR00113/NSECTIONGROUP=2). However, once the baby has the proper tools to hear and take in the sound, it would react the same exact way it would later on outside the womb. As Shenk noted, "speaking early and often to children" (47) will help them develop intelligence because the words are a brain stimulation, and the proper genes would be expressed to try to understand the hearing.
Many people believe that classical music like Beethoven would make kids smarter, however, it really doesn't matter what the music is. Even heavy metal or rap will still trigger an effect on gene expression. Songs with a lot of words could be better such as country music, however, the baby probably would not be able to distinguish the words, and even if it could it would be to early to make a difference. For example, it would be like trying to teach calculus to a 6th grader. So really, any distinguishable noise that the baby can hear, especially after week 25, can have a positive impact on a baby's gene expression.
-Josh Weisberg (superswimmer51@sbcglobal.net)
Talking to a child at a younger age frequently can definitely have an impact on that child’s life. By exposing words, tones, and sentences to a kid at a younger age can help them become more prepared for their future education. When parents talk to their kids, their children can improve their diction and syntax just by listening. Experiments testing this have proved that talking to a child at an early age sets them up for higher academic achievement in the future. There are many other factors that affect the outcome of a child during development such as parents reading to their children, encouragement, and embracing failure. According to two psychologists named Sherman and Key, “children develop only as the environment demands development” (47). If parents don’t help and encourage their kids to improve their development, it will take longer for them to achieve success in certain aspects than other kids whose parents take a different approach. Mozart is one example of this fact put into action. Mozart’s father pushed his son at a very young age towards music, and made his entire life devoted to composing and playing music. Without his dad’s help and encouragement, Mozart would’ve never accomplished the achievements he had made. How parents choose to treat their children at very young ages definitely has a huge impact of what that child will grow up to be. These environmental factors can affect the epigenome of the child’s genes which determine which genes are going to be expressed and those that are not.
ReplyDeleteDuring pregnancy, doctors encourage the parents to sing and talk to their unborn baby. The reason for this is that “babies in the womb have the emotional and intuitive capabilities to sense their parents' love” (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51972). If the baby senses their parents’ love and affection, a trust relationship is established between them even before the baby is born making it easier to care for him or her. Just like Josh said, the environment can’t alter the genes of babies because they’re located in their mother’s womb. However, what they’re parents say and do can act as the environment they’re in which will ultimately affect their gene expression when born. This proves that what the parents do before their child is born can definitely affect the outcome of their kid.
Evolution is “the idea that the organisms living on Earth today are the modified descendents of common ancestors” (Campbell 3). Each generation evolves from the past one indicating that the past generations had to have affected the future ones. This shows how parents are constantly altering their offspring through their lifestyles and actions which proves why our species are always changing. Evolution is the basis of the existence and continuation of life.
Anisha Ghosh (anishaghosh16@gmail.com)