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Direct Hit

Theme A - Unity & diversity

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Page Facing Up

Theme B - Form & Function

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Pill

Theme C - Interaction &  Interdependence

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Keycap Digit One

Theme D - Continuity & Change

Alright, folks! Grab your microscopes and DNA helix models, and let&#39;s dive into the fascinating world of genomes!

Did you know that genomes come in all shapes and sizes? And no, we&#39;re not talking about the &#39;fit-in-a-jeans&#39; size! We&#39;re talking about how much DNA a cell can pack. This can tell us a lot about the evolution of a species, the cost, and complexity of sequencing their genomes.

Let&#39;s break it down

<ul>
	<li>Genome Size is often measured as the total DNA in a haploid cell. That&#39;s the kind of cell you find in sperm or egg cells. Neat, huh?</li>
	<li>A genome&#39;s size is usually measured in picograms (pg) or in base pairs (bp). Just so you know, 1 picogram is insanely tiny, like 10^-12 grams tiny! And 1 megabase pair (Mbp) equals a million base pairs. That&#39;s a lot of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs!</li>
</ul>

It&#39;s not just humans who&#39;ve had their genomes sequenced. Over 10,000 different species, from funky fungi to cool critters, have had their genome sizes recorded in databases.

Let&#39;s play a game of &quot;What&#39;s more complex?&quot; Is a jigsaw puzzle more complex than a Rubik&#39;s cube? What about a snail compared to a fern? Seems tricky, right? That&#39;s because &quot;complexity&quot; is a slippery term to define. Our paleobiologist friend, Daniel W. McShea, says we don&#39;t even have a standard definition for it!

&nbsp;

Some potential perspectives to consider

<ul>
	<li>🌱 Are plants, with their metabolic fireworks, more complex than animals?</li>
	<li>🦠 Does having a variety of cell types (thanks to gene expression) make multicellular organisms more complex than single-celled ones?</li>
	<li>🧬 Maybe the number of activities a single cell can carry out defines complexity? Single-celled organisms juggle more tasks per cell than a cell in multicellular organisms.</li>
	<li>🦖 Do more recently evolved organisms, with their brand-new adaptations, rank higher in the complexity meter?</li>
</ul>

You see, defining &quot;complexity&quot; isn&#39;t so straightforward!

Databases are like enormous digital closets stuffed with data. Just like you might dig through your messy closet to find that favorite T-shirt, researchers &quot;data mine&quot; to find valuable information.

&nbsp;

One key to successful data mining is asking open-ended questions. These are questions that can&#39;t be answered with a simple &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no&quot;. They&#39;re like treasure maps, guiding you to the chest of insightful data.

&nbsp;

For example, questions like

<ul>
	<li>🌸 Do flowering plants (angiosperms) generally have bigger genomes than ferns and their relatives (pteridophytes)?</li>
	<li>🍄 Do fungi and animals have similar genome sizes?</li>
</ul>

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to formulate a research question about genome size and use a database to test it.

&nbsp;

Ready to dive into the world of genome sizes and complexity? Well, there&#39;s no time like the present! Remember, every genome tells a story. It&#39;s time to uncover it! 🕵️&zwj;♀️🧬

Unraveling Genome Sizes Complexity, Evolution, & Research Insights

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Higher Level

Biology HL

Theme A - Unity & diversity

Unraveling Genome Sizes Complexity, Evolution, & Research Insights

Table of content

Genome size - small but mighty

Unlock the Full Content!

Theme A - Unity & diversity

Unraveling Genome Sizes Complexity, Evolution, & Research Insights

Table of content

Genome size - small but mighty

Unlock the Full Content!