Introduction: Fur Real This Time🧀

Have you ever wondered why little friends—or more like fur-friends would invade your sweet little homes unattended?

Background: Cheddar Days Ahead 💡❔

Environmental changes, particularly those related to climate, can significantly impact living things physically. Species may adapt by modifying their behavior, physical characteristics, or how their bodies function, or they may face population declines or even extinction. For example, our (definitely engaging) topic about rats, they are a familiar part of city landscapes, but recent studies reveal that urban pressures are not only altering rat behavior but also their physical traits, including changes in skull shape and cranial development due to environmental stress and diet (Urban Evolution LITC, 2020).

Problem: Squeak of the Devil 🪤

Urban rats often carry bacteria and live in unsanitary conditions—yuck! They spread diseases and infect other rat populations that eventually leads to behavioral and physical changes. This is caused by the process of the evolution of rats and their adaptation in urban areas, which led them to mostly live in the sewers which is unsanitary—and that's where the disease starts and continues to spread.

Have you ever heard of Charles Dharwin? 💭🌿

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most adaptable to change."

Theoretical Background 1.1: Burrowed Time 🕰️

Evolution basically refers to the gradual change in the genetic makeup of populations of organisms over time, resulting in new species or changes in existing species. In our case, evolution is when the rats get infected by various bacteria and diseases, which leads to physical and behavior changes. Now, what really is natural selection? Natural selection is a mechanism that drives evolution, where the living thing that is more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success. Selective pressure is similar to natural selection, as the environmental factors favors certain traits over others—leading to changes in the genetic makeup of a population over time. The selective pressure in our designated simulation (which we will be showing later on) is increased rat exposure in certain boroughs. 🧬

Gene-ius in Action 1.2: Evolution 101 🔬🧪

Mutation, Adaptation, and Types of Evolution

Mutations are very essential to evolution. Every genetic feature in every organism was, initially, the result of a mutation. The new genetic variant (allele) spreads via reproduction, and differential reproduction is a defining aspect of evolution. This is different in a way towards adaptation, as adaptation is a process whereas an organism changes as it responds to changes in its environment. Together, these evolutionary mechanisms are able to explain greatly on how the rat population in our simulation might change in response to environmental challenges—providing a not just dynamic, but also a data-driven approach at how evolution works in real time. 🌱

Mutate Happens 1.3: How to Differentiate?🕵️‍♀️

This is the example of the demonstration of the infected and non-infected rats in the simulation you'll soon check out, which means the red-eyed rats (in our case or simulation, it's the color green) are infected whilst the black-colored rats are normal or in a healthy condition. 🐀💥🦠