Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 15

2018
WELLINGTON SCHOOL LIFE
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
fact, epigenetic changes happen to you every day, all of the time.
For example, if you are drinking a beer, your liver cells will ‘switch
on’ the gene to make the enzyme (which is made of protein) to
break down alcohol. Epigenetic changes like this are constantly
altering how your DNA is utilised on a day-to-day basis, resulting
in further variation.
The answer finally came in the form of a process called gene
splicing. Insects cannot splice genes. Put simply, a fruit fly has
20,000 genes and can therefore make 20,000 types of proteins.
Humans, however, have 25,000 genes which can be spliced into
various forms, which means that each of these 25,000 genes can
be made into over twenty different forms, which in turn creates
enough genetic variation to stop you looking anything like a fly!
So how is it that each cell in the human body contains identical
DNA? Surely, a liver cell is a very different thing compared to a
brain cell? Yes, they are different, but both contain identical DNA
sequences and thus they share identical genes. The difference
between them is whether these genes can be ‘switched on or off’.
The discovery of this ‘on or off’ state of genes is relatively new,
and is known as epigenetic control. Epigenetics is the new
paradigm shift in the field of genetics as it concerns the control
of DNA and thus the control of genes themselves. Different
cells have different genes ‘switched on or off’ and this results in
different proteins being formed and thus producing variation. In
To the surprise of the biological community, it was recently
discovered that these changes can also be passed on to offspring
through the alteration of the epigenetics in the DNA of sperm
cells. A research study carried out in Switzerland has shown that
inducing a heart attack in a mouse confers a resistance to heart
attacks in subsequent generations due to changes in epigenetics
of the sperm, which are then passed on after fertilisation. Indeed,
your parents are not only responsible for the genes you inherit;
they are also responsible for determining how those very genes
behave as well! This even applies in the case of identical twins:
the twins may share identical genes but after fertilisation each
embryo undergoes epigenetic changes, which makes each child
subtly but tangibly unique.
So where does this leave us? We are still all related by DNA but
it is the tiny changes in DNA sequence and decoding that cause
differences in our physical appearance and biological makeup. We
have a tendency as a species to spot differences – hair colour,
eye colour, skin colour, etc, yet we forget how similar we are.
We all have a heart with four chambers connected by a huge
network of blood vessels. We all have the same basic biological
needs. Perhaps it would be better if we were to reflect on the
similarities that we all share, rather than the 0.5% variation in our
genes. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to think that these tiny but
crucial little differences produced the likes of Einstein, Da Vinci,
Mandela, Beethoven and Lionel Messi.
CELEBRATING GRADUATION
SUCCESS AT WELLINGTON COLLEGE
INTERNATIONAL TIANJIN
Our annual Graduation ceremony took place on the 26th April
2017. We were delighted to welcome our distinguished guest
Clare Pearson, Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce for
China, who delivered a truly inspirational speech to our pupils.
The evening was a great success; more than half of our Year
13 pupils performed or spoke on stage, some of whom were
performing here at Wellington for the first time.
Our graduates are going on to study at some of the most
prestigious universities across the world, including Parsons
School of Design in New York, the Universities of Toronto,
NYU, Warwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Royal Holloway, the
London Schoo l of Economics (LSE), Central Saint Martins,
School of Art, as well as Bond and Monash Universities in
Australia. We are immensely proud of their achievements.
These young Wellingtonians leave us with the values instilled
in them during their time here with us; we know that they are
well equipped to progress on to the next stage in their lives
and we wish them all the very best as they leave us, safe in the
knowledge that they will forever be part of the global
Wellington family.
Our vision at Wellington College is to educate pupils to thrive
in an ever-changing global society, and there are few occasions
more gratifying than seeing passions being pursued at some of
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the world’s finest and most progressive universities and higher
education institutions. Our pupils have worked tremendously
hard to achieve the offers below and we are very proud of
them indeed.
Congratulations need to be extended in a variety of directions.
The invaluable support of a truly professional and motivated
teaching team who have guided pupils through a myriad of
selection and opportunity in finding the right courses and
locations for them; the relentless and ongoing support of parents
in communicating proactively with representatives of the College
and most importantly, for allowing the College to bring out the
very best in their children academically.
Finally, our huge congratulations go to our pupils. In persevering
to achieve their set goals they have learned lessons in humility,
independence in learning and research, vital soft skills in
communication, teamwork and the importance in trusting others.
Their achievements are even more incredible, considering that
some of them are non-native English speakers and they are
competing with students from all over the world. Our vision
states ‘We aspire to create a caring international community that
develops well-rounded individuals with strong values and the skills
to thrive in an ever-changing global society.’ These are the pupils
that we are sending out into the wider world.
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