Academic Articles

                                    What is Birth Control?     When it comes to birth control, the idea of being against it or for it, comes down to what an individual defines birth control as being. In some opinions, anything that prevents or terminates a pregnancy would be considered some type of birth control. Others would limit their definition of birth control only to those things that actually prevent a pregnancy, (i.e. birth control pills, condoms, diaphragms, or surgeries such as hysterectomies). For the purposes of this paper, the definition of birth control will be limited to those forms that simply prevent pregnancy and not those that terminate a pregnancy. Arguments For Birth Control      In what is probably the most hailed purpose for birth control is its usage as a means of controlling the population. Proponents of this idea state that th...

     Genetic diversity is the variation in the characteristics inherited from the parent organisms in a population of a specific species.  This diversity is extremely important for the survival of a species as it allows for the survival of certain members when a portion of the group is destroyed either through disease, changing environments, or other factors that are detrimental to their survival.  Genetic diversity can come about through a number of ways: mutations, sexual reproduction, migration, and population size.      Mutations are changes in the alleles that introduce new genetic information into a group.  While some mutations are readily visible (two-headed snakes, five-legged sheep, frogs with six-eyes, etc.), many other mutations are not so obvious.  An organism that is susceptible to a certain disease, for example.  While mutations will introduce new characteristics into a populatio...