Hello,
My name is Kodjo Welbeck. I am currently working on my Associate in Sciences here at Phoenix College. I will be transferring to ASU in fall 2013 to pursue my Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences (Cell, Genetics and developmental Biology) and then apply for medical school.
Welcome Kodjo! Don't forget to post your full bio as a separate page in your blog.
ReplyDeleteOk I will... Thanks Amanda!!!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kodjo
ReplyDeleteCells genetics, and development: it doesn’t get any better than that does it. I’m a temp faculty member in the Biosciences Department at PC. My former job was working if a research lab and I do miss doing experiments. What kind of experiments are you interested in doing? Or I guess the better question would be what kind of questions interest you? Let me know when you have the time.
Jon Hayashi
Jon,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the question. I would like to know more about the process of cell replication in human and what happen at each stage and also the genetic sequence that code for the formation of each body parts and finally how we can prevent abnormalities from happening. I hope this is not confusing. But if it is, I am happy to meet with you so that we can talk about it.
Cheers,
Kodjo Welbeck
Hi, Kodjo
ReplyDeleteYeah, come by sometime and we can talk about stuff you want to do. The best times for me are Thursdays after noon or anytime Friday. Unless you happen to be on campus after 4:00 pm on Mondays or Wednesdays (I’m usually here until about 6:00).
One approach to studying replication and would be to use cell lines, cells that you can buy and that continually replicate in a dish. These are immortal cells that never enter senescence and the lines you buy now are decades old and they look just fine. These cell lines were originally extracted from tumors. One of the well-known lines is the HeLa cell line that was taken from a woman known as Henrietta Lacks back in the 20th century. These cells do not differentiate though. OK, I got a good one for you. You can get several different mammalian cell lines and I think that the growth conditions are similar. What would happen if you tried to grow different cell lines in the same dish? Would they compete with each other or would they ignore each other? Nobody ever does this kind of experiment because normally you want a pure clonal line and take every precaution to prevent this from happening, but hey, I could be fun to try.
Anyway, I look forward the talking more about this stuff with you!
Jon
Hi Jon,
ReplyDeleteI think that’s a good one too. I am so excited about it since I will be the first person to run such an experiment. I can’t wait to see what the end result will be. Concerning meeting with you, I think Thursday and Friday are good days for me too but unfortunately next week is Thanksgiving and there is no school both days. Do you we think can meet anytime on Tuesday or Wednesday?
Thanks!
Kodjo
Hi, Kodjo
ReplyDeleteI’ll be in my office on Tuesday between 10:00 and 10:30 am, then again after my class on that day between 11:45 and 12:45. On Wednesday I’m available after 4:00 pm until about 5:00.
Let me know if any of these times are ones that you can make. Look forward to talking with you!
Jon
Hi, Kodjo
ReplyDeleteHere’s something else for you to think about. Check out this video posted on the TED site. It’s a spectacular description of how the brain works and what happens when parts of it fail.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
Let me know what you think.
Jon
Hi, Jon
ReplyDeleteI think I can make Tuesday from 10:00 to 10:30am. I will comment on the video tonight because I am in library but I forgot my earphones at home so I cannot be able to listen to what they are saying.
I am very excited to meet you tomorrow!
Thanks!
Kodjo
Cool. See you then.
ReplyDeleteJon
I watched the video and it was very instructive. I studied the brain before but not as much as in details. From this video, I learn how a significant event in our life can make us choose a career pathway and engage us actively in a research field. I am referring to how his brother brain cancer and her stroke make her engage in the study of brain functions. She is a really great woman!
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to having more informative videos and articles from you. Thank you very much!
Kodjo
I really appreciate it.
It’s really surprising how much we can learn about the human brain by studying animals like flies or even simpler animals. It doesn’t seem to matter how complex or simple an organism’s brain is; all organisms must solve the same problem of finding food and mates. It doesn’t matter how little or how big a brain is; if that brain can’t remember where it found food yesterday, then that organism will go extinct.
ReplyDeleteKeep reading articles and we’ll talk about what kind of experiment you might want to do. The more you read about how other people do experiments and what they found out the better your experiment will be!
See you soon,
Jon