Summer Proj.

1. Introduction
The big question the book will attempt to answer is: Why would genes that make people sick still be in our gene pool after millions of years?

2. Chapters I-VIII

Chapter I A. The author chose to name chapter I “Ironing it Out” because the whole chapter is about why iron is so high in some people, but low in others. The author is trying to iron it out! B. An example of Dr. Moalem illustrating the AP Biology theme of evolution when she tells us about how during the black plague in Europe, people with more iron in their system were more likely to die due to the bacteria that feeds on iron, but now the population is more like to survive because scientists found that iron could help people fight of other diseases, even though it was killing the body in other ways. C. Another AP Biology theme used in chapter I is the continuity of life is based on heritable information in the form of DNA. This theme is came up when the author talked about how different iron levels are different in everyone, but hemochromatosis can be passed down throughout the family. D. My favorite piece of information from chapter I is when Dr. Sharon Moalem taught me about how doctors used sharpened sticks, shark’s teeth, and miniature bows and arrows to bleed patients. I thought this was interesting because I never heard of bloodletting before and I would have never thought they used those instruments!
Chapter II A. Dr. Sharon Moalem names the chapter “A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Temperature go down” because throughout the chapter Moalem writes about how sugar makes temperature decrease making it easier for human blood to not freeze due to the high sugar levels in normal humans. B. When the author talks about how high sugar in blood kept humans warm during the ice age and now having high sugar has evolved to now keeping our internal organs warm during the cold. C. Organisms are affected by their environment is another AP Biology theme used in chapter II. It is illustrated when the author talks about how a person’s surroundings can cause diseases or medical disorders. D. My favorite part of Chapter II is when I read that diabetes can lead to dehydration, coma, blindness, stroke, amputation, and even death.
Chapter III A. The chapter was named “The Cholesterol Also Rises” because Dr. Moalem talks about how when the sun rises (and you tan) your cholesterol conversion rate also rises due to the vitamin D coming from the sun. B. The idea that the modern human evolved from Africa approximately 250,000 years ago is an illustration on evolution C. The other AP Biology theme used in Chapter 3 is energy conversion. It is illustrated when the book states that vitamin D is converted to cholesterol for humans. D. Sunblock blocks the ultraviolet rays we need to make vitamin D was the most interesting sentence in chapter III.