Required question #1
A researcher wanted to test a hypothesis about how muscles respond to a change in gravity, but using tardigrades as a model organism because they were much easier to maintain in the space shuttle than mice or rats. They genetically engineered two populations of tardigrades with mammalian-like muscle fibers. In each population they measured the % of fast glycolytic and slow oxidative muscle fibers, and they measured the cross-sectional area of each fiber type. Here are the data from before they took the tardigrades into space.(The data is on the screenshot)
Assuming that the effects of microgravity are the same on the engineered muscle fiber types as on human fiber types,
- Predict how the distribution of muscle fiber types will change in each population. (1sentence,or draw a graph)
- Predict how the cross-sectional area of the fiber types will change in each population. (1sentence, or draw a graph)
- Justify your predictions. (5 sentences max)
Required Question #2
A comparative physiologist decided to take electric eels on a space mission, but he was worried that the electric discharges would be too dangerous in a small enclosed space such as the space station. So, he developed a mutant eel with a weaker electric organ. What are two different ways that an electric organ could be modified so that it is weaker?