You’ve gone through 3 cell divisions to reach the 8-cell stage! Even at this early stage, your cells are starting to look a bit different from one another.

These changes are a result of different amounts of proteins and special single-stranded DNA from your mother (called maternal mRNA) ending up in each cell during division.

You now contain 3 different types of cell - the animal, vegetal dorsal and the vegetal ventral. These will become different parts of your body in later life!

Computing

Alan Turing

Alan Turing studied at Christs College from 1931-1934. He is most well known for breaking the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park during World War II, but did you know he also had a huge impact on biology too?

In his ‘Theory of Morphogenesis’, Turing predicted that developmental patterning is controlled by the concentration of certain chemicals/substances called morphogens. The Theory of Morphogenesis still underlies how we understand a lot of developmental processes today.

Computing in Biology

A big part of modern biology research involves two of Turing’s major scientific interests: artificial intelligence and mathematical biology. Scientists at the Gurdon Institute perform experiments and then try to synthesize the collected data into mathematical models.

These models can be used to describe and predict the patterns that emerge during the development of tissues and organs in embryos.

Artificial intelligence techniques are often essential in making these models and can be inspired by a range of ideas underlying physics and mathematics such as topological quantum field theories and group theory.

Image: A mathematical model with computational algerbra.

Riddle

  • At a church along this fair parade,

    You can climb the steeple and see the cityscape.

    A great lady saint gives it it’s name,

    Tell us what it is to continue the game!

  • The Church opposite Kings College is named “Great Saint ….?” - What is the female name that goes here?

*Remember to start your answer with a Capital letter.

Answer

“We can see only a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.”

— Alan Turing from ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’, 1950.