.
Bob Dylan wrote some of the most important songs
of the 60’s and is considered “the most
important lyrist of this era
Robert Zimmerman grew up in Minnesota in the 50’.
He changed his name to Bob Dylan
But in 1960 he moved to New York City and began writing and sing
folk songs
In 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, for songs such as
“Like a Rolling Stone”
In 2001, Bob Dylan received an Academy Award for his song
“Things Have Changed” from the movie
Wonder Boys.
He went to visit his idol -
Woody Guthrie who was dying in the hospital
Dylan’s first album had “Song for Woody
Woody Guthrie was one of the
“most influential cultural figures”
of the Depression Era.
He wrote over one thousand songs
between 1932 and 1952.
Woody Guthrie sang about repressed people, such as the Okies coming to California during the Depression. He and John Stienbeck’s book “Grapes of Wrath” greatly influenced how farm workers were later treated
Woody Guthrie’s
other legacy to
music is all the other
song writers he
has influenced
such as: Springsteen
Baez
Woody Guthrie was
born in 1912 to Charley and
Nora Guthrie. He had one sister, Clara, who died in a
mysterious house fire.
Huntington’s Disease results from the deterioration of nerves such as
those in the center of the Huntington’s brain on the right
Woody Guthrie
spent the last fifteen years of his life in
mental institutions
and hospitals.
His children were with him at the time of his death in
1973.
We’ll concentrate on the middle child, Arlo. Arlo also
became a song writer. He’s most famous song was actually made into a movie
Actually, Woody’s married life was much more complex
and by looking at the complete pedigree we can see how a dominant gene,
such as Huntington’s Disease, is inherited.
In 1979 Nancy Wexler began studying a
village in Venezuela where Huntington’s Disease was common
rather than rare. Through her work with
thousands of blood sample, she was able to identify the location of
the gene that causes Huntington’s Disease.
Through Wexler’s research, the gene
causing Huntington’s Disease was
located at the tip of chromosome 4.
Soon after discovering the location, six universities
working under the direction of Nancy Wexler, identified the sequence of the A’s, G’s, C’s, and T’s. The University of California, Irvine was the
major researcher in identifying the sequence of the Huntington”s Disease
gene.
The mutation that causes Huntington’s Disease is a repeating of the three bases C,A,G in the gene. The more often the repeat of the CAG sequence the more likely it is to contract the
disease and the earlier the disease starts.
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
A – C – C – G – T – C – G – A – T – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – C – A – G – A – A – C – T – T –
Adding multiple copies of the C – A – G codon, changes the amino acid sequence
in the copy.
The Huntington gene has a
section where three bases repeat
over and over,
causing a protein with a section of repeating
amino acids.
The reason Huntington’s Disease symptoms do not appear until late in life is that the
incorrect protein takes time to builds up in the nerve cells, until the cell eventually dies.
Soon after the location and
sequence of the gene were identified, a genetic test was
developed to determine if the
Huntington’s mutation is present.
Even though she was instrumental in developing the
genetic test for the Huntington’s gene, Dr. Wexler will not reveal if she has had
the test.
Neither has Arlo Guthrie
All because All because Huntington’s Disease is inherited as a dominant trait:1) What was Woody Guthrie's genotype for Huntington’s Disease.
2) What is the genotype of Arlo Guthrie.
3) Construct the Punnett square for Nancy Wexler.
4) What is the probability that Nancy Wexler does have Huntington’s Disease?
5) Construct the pedigree for Woody Guthrie. (He had two sisters.)
6) What is the probability that his little sister, who died in a “mysterious” fire, would have had Huntington’s Disease if she had lived?
So we come back to the beginning, Nancy Wexler identified the location of the gene that cause the Huntington’s Disease that Arlo Guthrie did not had but that killed
his dad, Woody Guthrie, who Bob Dylan went to New York to visit where he was
discovered and went on to become one of the most influential song writers of the 20th Century because of the Huntington
Disease gene.