Saturday, May 9, 2015

Week 6: Biotech + Art



Every invention starts with an idea that someone thought of and then art is drawn and an experiment is applied to make these ideas come to reality and so are biotechnologies. These technologies help us in our everyday lives and also bring us closer to realizing that the body and brain are capable of doing much more than we ever could imagine.  Biotechnologies benefit the environment in many ways.  They provides tools and technologies that provide solutions to many of today’s global environmental challenges.


                                   

Figure 1: Biotechnology used in agriculture 


The field that biotechnology has had most success, is agriculture because it introduces the breeding techniques, which alter living organisms, or parts of organisms, to modify products; improve plants or animals; or develop microorganisms for specific agricultural uses and this process is possible due to the understanding of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering, is use to operate the plant's genes through techniques of modern molecular biology often referred to as recombinant DNA technology.Based on this understanding, it has helped scientists developed solutions to increase agricultural productivity. This has helped create fruits like the seedless grape, tomatoes and corn that has been genetically modify to tolerate herbicides and kill insects that try to eat it. these are very important to human because it gives us a wide varieties of options when it comes to food and also allow farmers to worry about other aspect of agriculture that doesn't have to do with herbicides because of the genetically modified crops that has been made it help kill them. 


Figure 2:   Some Genetically Modified foods  we eat everyday.


When it comes to agriculture, organic and non organic farmers are the main growers. Non-organic growers use a product such as giberellic acid to treat fruits like grapes to ensure that no seeds at all will be found in them. Organic growers don't use any chemicals to grow their crops. They use the traditional growing method to make sure it all natural. This shows important the brain can go to an extent to help solve problems that seems unthinkable. In lecture this week, i learned of the work of Eduardo Kac who created a transgenic bunny named Alba.  Through many experiments, Eduardo was able to transfer a gene from a jellyfish into Alba that makes her glow green when illuminated with the correct light. This form of art by Eduardo shows the how genetic engineering can help us unfold many mysteries that has happened or explain why things are the way they are.


Figure 3: Genetic engineering (DNA formation of a plant leave) 



To answer Ruth West's last question, i think with the existence of human and art there is always going to be practice of human creativity but I think human activities should be limited because with the way the earth is going, in decades to come the world is not going to be a safe place with the practices like economic growth, technology, and consumption because they are destabilizing the global environment.  even though biotechnologies are beneficially in this modern world its also is can be harmful because these experiments done by scientists is a manipulation to plants and animals and also the natural order of thing. With these practices i fell that might be an  increase risk of biological warfare which will be a problem to our environment if limits are not put on human creativity when it it come to biotech.



This picture is a symbolizes of how even the smallest human activities can come back and hurt us later if in the future if we are not careful. the smallest things are the most dangerous so limiting human creativity should be taken into consideration to help us avoid problems in the future. 



   Figure 4: A picture representing biological warfare. 





Citation

Metz, Matthew. "What Good Is Agricultural Biotechnology?" Journal of New Seeds 2.4 (2000): 59-71. Web. 09 May 2015.

"| USDA." | USDA. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.

"Energy Limits Crop Improvement." Science News 111.2 (1977): 23. Web. 09 May 2015.

"Scientists: Human Activity Has Pushed Earth beyond Four of Nine 'planetary Boundaries'" Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.

"Biotechnology's Environmental Benefits." Biotechnology's Environmental Benefits. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.


"Genetically Modified Foods in Our Daily Meals, Let Us Count the Ways." Genetic Literacy Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.


What Is the Biotechnology. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. (Figure 3)

"Genetic+engineering+dna - Google Search." Genetic+engineering+dna - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.




Sunday, April 26, 2015

Week 4: Medicine + Technology + Art


This week’s lecture and materials made we realize that art is all around us and has always been.  Technology has made the biggest change when it comes to medicine and this changes happened centuries ago.  Technology is most useful and well known now because people now understand it’s significant. Anatomy and dissection has existed since the beginning of times but is now its has evolved into a more safer and secure process. As the world change so does the ways of things. Anatomy is more advanced now due to use of technology.  I thought surgeries didn’t exist till the twentieth century but this week’s materials made realize it had been happening for more than three thousand years ago.


Figure 1: This is a picture of the processes of mummification in ancient Egypt. 

In ancient Egypt when the king or an important figure died mummification process was done to preserve their bodies in the tombs. This process included dissection whereby a 10cm incision was made in the side of the corpse using an obsidian knife to remove the organs then a solution of natron salt was put inside to help preserve the body from decaying. This shows how anatomy and the study of the human body existed along ago. Even though the research of the human body has been going on for centuries, the invention of the technology made things easier and less complicated to the ordinary human.



Figure 2: This a Lab Test of Raymond Damadian readies assistant Larry Minkoff for a body scan in his 1977 MRI prototype. ( Raymond Damadian is the inventor of the MRI)


During the 1800s doctors and biomedical scientists developed instruments to examine and understand the body. Devices such as the thermometer, microscope and kymograph revealed how healthy and diseased bodies worked.  Some of the very important instruments are the x-ray and MRI scanners, which help us, examine what is wrong with certain parts of our human body that the human eyes cannot explain by just looking at it.  The development of these instruments has made very huge impact in our daily lives. Just last week I went and got an x-ray for my thumb and when I got the results back, it said my thumb was fine. My trainer told me to go and get an  MRI and when I got the result back, it’s said I had torn some ligaments in my thumb. This shows how these technologies play a very important and useful role in our daily lives.  




Figure 3: Prescription Medicines 

Art is the base of all these great inventions, which has been helpful to our daily lives.  All these medicines that are prescribed to us by doctors are very useful due to the use of these new instruments that helps determine how many doses are safe for us to take to help us and thermometers that help that to tell us how if how temperature is too high or low.  The insulin pump for type one diabetes is a great example of how technology + art has develop something very in import to help save human lives. it has been programed to pump sugar into your body automatically when the body is need of it. This show has far technology has evolved. 




Figure 4: Insuline Pump 

With the combination of art and technology this world is about to discover so many great technologies that will help us do the most unthinkable things and helped create medicines to help cure many disease that centuries ago seemed impossible to cure.



Citation


"Researcher Battles Insulin Pump Maker over Security Flaw - CNET." CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


"Mummies and Mummification - History in an Hour." History in an Hour. N.p., 04 Jan. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


"Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine." Technology and Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


Hendricks, Drew. "How Technology Is Changing the Medical and Health Care Field." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

"Technology, Support Groups Help Man Manage Diabetes for Decades."RTV6. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.