Friday, December 14, 2012

Fun and Games with Variation

This class was definitely one of the more interesting ones that I have had the pleasure of taking while at URI. Genetics was something that never really held my interest, but this class had the perfect combination of case studies, articles and science tomake it understandable without being overwhelming. On a side note, I decided to include the poem from our presentation. feel free to reproduce, share or otherwise make use of it.

Your genes are a blueprint of who you will be,

Your traits being a function of heritability.
 

From 0 to 1 your traits are all measured,

With environment and genes which both endeavored


To explain the way that they are expressed,

However the truth is its really complex


Traits can have multiple factors and be polygenic,

The permutations can drive someone manic.


Also, your genes can be pleiotropic,

Making our understanding of genetics seem quite myopic


Genes give an outline but show only so much,

Whether African, Irish, Italian or Dutch,


You are also affected by where you call home,

Influenced by environment and where your ancestors roamed.


Nature and Nurture both working in tandem

Result in variety that may just seem random.


Diseases can spread in ways seeming systemic,

But environmental factors are what make it endemic.


Studying lifestyle and environmental effects is a must,

Since even the healthy can be hit by a bus


In short your genes don’t work in a vacuum,

A predisposition does not always mean doom.

As for what makes me me, it’s easy to see

The traits that are expressed individually.


My height and my hair and skin kind of fair

But that just describes me physically.


I also have attributes harder to chart,

My love of good books, and appreciation of art.


Genetics provide a great way to start,

But people are more than the sum of their parts.

-Sevag

2 comments:

  1. This poem is getting all kinds of love in the Facebook- and Twitter-verses!

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  2. Look! Someone special tweeted your poem Sevag! Link here

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