Monday, December 13, 2010

DNA & Genomics Project


Attributions for Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_shares_mindboggling_new_science.html
About the TED Talk
   Juan Enriquez in this TED talk exclaims that life sciences, including genomics, will have drastic effects in technology, politics, business, and society. These effects will bring about a new world and way of life.


Eyes on The Future
   Imagine a purely technological world where flying cars stream freely across the sky, where mechanical robots accompany each and every person, where people carry their genetic information from work to doctor's offices, where disease is non-existent, where technology takes over, bringing about an evolution of the entire human species. Juan Enriquez claims that with the technology of the present and the future, human capacity, and a efficient use of that human capacity, the human species can evolve to become that of HomoEvolutis- hominids who have the ability to  take direct and purposeful control over the evolution of their species, and others. 




A Little Bit About Juan Enriquez
        "A brilliant thinker and entrepreneur unlocking the extraordinary promise of the new life sciences — and changing the world."
                               -Leigh Bureau
  Juan Enriquez is a bestselling author, businessman, and academic who continues to be a leader in the field life sciences and its relationship with politics, economics, and society. Throughout his academic career, Enriquez has written a number of essays, journal entries, and books, becoming one of the world's leading authorities on the "uses and benefits of genomic research" (LeighBureau). One of these books entitled Homo Evolutis: A Short Tour of Our New Species, illustrates a place where humans have the ability to manipulate the environment around them to the point where they can control their own evolution, as well as that of others. 
   Enriquez is committed to the study of bio-science and the impact it has on society as a whole. In this commitment, Enriquez has co-founded Synthetic Genomics, a company creating solutions for major global issues driven solely on the basis of genomics. Apart from his essays and written works, Enriquez continuously aims to deliver his message that genomics and other life sciences will have profound effects on technology, business, politics, and society through lectures and speeches delivered around the world.  
Attributions for BIO: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/events.taf?function=show&cat=allconf&EventID=GC05&SPID=1519&level1=speakers&level2=bio&ID=145  
http://www.leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id=225
http://www.biotechonomy.com/juan.htm



Some Perplexing Vocabulary
  •  leverage:  The use of credit or borrowed funds to improve one's speculative capacity and increase the rate of return from an investment, as in buying securities on margin.
  •  entitlement: a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program
  • stem cell: an undifferentiated cell whose daughter cells may differentiate into other cell types (such as blood cells)
  •  cochlear implant: An electronic apparatus that allows people with severe hearing loss to recognize some sounds, especially speech sounds, and that consists chiefly of a microphone and receiver, a processor that converts speech into electronic signals, and an array of electrodes that transmit the signals to the auditory nerve in the inner ear.
  • bond: Bonds are fixed-income financial assets—essentially IOUs that promise the holder a specified set of payments. The value of a bond, like the value of any other asset, is the present value of the income stream one expects to receive from holding the bond
  • GDP: Thetotalmarket valueof allfinal goodsandservicesproduced in acountryin a given year, equal to totalconsumer,investmentandgovernmentspending,plusthevalueofexports,minusthe value ofimports.
  • microbe:  any microscopic organism, esp a disease-causing bacterium
  • deficit: the amountby which agovernment,company, or individual's spendingexceedsitsincomeover a particularperiodof time.
  • species:  a category of biological classification ranking immediately below the genus or subgenus, comprising related organisms or populations potentially capable of interbreeding, and being designated by a binomial
  • axolotl:larval salamander of mountain lakes of Mexico that usually lives without metamorphosing
  • tissue:  aggregation of cells that are similar in form and function and the intercellular substances produced by them.
  • hiedelbregensus: An early type of European fossil man known from an isolated lower jaw; considered a variant ofHomo erectusor an early stock of Neanderthal man.
  • Homo floresiensis: A human-like species who lived until 18,000 years ago in the company of giant Komodo lizards and now-extinct pygmy elephants on the isolated island of Flores in Indonesia.
  • homo neanderthal: An extinct human species (Homo neanderthalensis) or subspecies (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) living during the late Pleistocene Epoch throughout most of Europe and parts of Asia and northern Africa and associated with Middle Paleolithic tools.
  • abiogensis: The obsolete concept that plant and animal life arise from nonliving organic matter. Also known as autogenesis; spontaneous generation.
  • DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid: an extremely long macromolecule that isthe main component of chromosomes and is the material thattransfers genetic characteristics in all life forms
  • RNA: A polymeric constituent of all living cells and many viruses, consisting of a long, usually single-stranded chain of alternating phosphate and ribose units
http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/p/GDP.htm
http://www.investorwords.com/2153/GDP.html
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/tissue
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Homo+heidelbergensis
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Neanderthal
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/DNA
http://www.answers.com/topic/rna

Theme 1: Science, Technology, and Society- The Inevitable Wave of Technology

     Throughout human history, human beings have desired improvement, progress, and change. Like anything, human imrpvement always causes controversy. Especially in the field of science and technology, imrovements can have both beneficial and damaging impacts on human society. 
      However, there are the many that believe that the benefits of this progress outweigh any possible negative consequence. Juan Enriquez, for example, understands the increasing pace of technology and its presence in society today, and believes this pace will cause a drastic positive change in the lives of people all over the world. Technical innovations such as the cochlear implant and the subretinal implant, for example, have allowed the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Steam cell research has allowed for the creation of regrown tracheas, bladders, and ears. If enough scientific research has resulted in technological advances such as these, Enriquez  exclaims the possiblity of having technology shaping many more aspects of society. "Sticky Bots", as they are called, and robots the size of flies, have been innovated to aid in the field of forensics and fighting crime. A powerful wave of technology is on the verge of occurring, he argues. In it, humans- if utilizing their individual capacities to the fullest- will begin to evolve into hominids of the HomoEvolutis, in which they will be able to control not only their own evolution, but also that of other species. 
Sticky-Bot
Robot-Fly

















Theme 1: Evolution- The Ultimate Reboot
        The species of Homo Sapiens constitutes modern human beings. The homo sapien has been evolving for over twenty million years, descending from its ancestor Dryopithecus. The evolutionary change that has occurred until that time has brought about diversity of life on Earth and has proven to be pivotal in the human's understanding of itself. Enriquez, in his TED talk, argues the prominence of evolution in present day society. Technology, he believes, is slowly, but surely bringing about an entirely new generation- Homo Evolutis. One day, Enriquez states, with enough scientific research and technological advancement, human beings will be able to control their own evolution as well as that of other species. Hominids' "direct and deliberate control," he claims, will spur a most unprecedented change that will eventually reboot the entire system we call our Earth- making for the "Ultimate Reboot."

"Embrace Homo Evolutis"-Nick Kinni




7 comments:

  1. you need attributions for the video and each section that you post. Your first checkpoint is not complete.

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  2. need to finish your second check point, first one is awesome

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  3. OK now work on the 3rd check point. OK now you need to think about the two themes that your author is addressing. We have used these themes before when we discussed the end of a unit.

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  4. I really enjoyed your blog post about this video. I found it very interesting that in part of his talk he talked about all the new things cloning can now do. We now have the technology to clone body parts that will properly function. However, I do wonder how this will effect our society. Hopefully these advantages present a positive outcome. I also enjoyed how he talked about the new technology regarding robots. I found it fascinating that we can now make robots that can do certain tasks just like humans. This video reminded me about how much our society's technology has advanced.

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  5. Im doing a video on Juan Enriquez also expect my video is about the human genome and the impact on our future. In my video he really seems to get at the fundamental building blocks of the human genome and i noticed he seems to attack the building blocks in your video as well but on economics. I think its interesting how versatile his knowledge is and he isn't restricted by only one subject of study but instead he does research on other fields as well. I think its safe to say that Enriquez is very smart all across the board of different fields.

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  6. our videos are some what similar but also different. they both discuss how we can make major advancements in technology and the human race. yours really talks about how humans can basically do it all in their own and what we can do as a society to move towards these goals. while mine discusses how we need to look to nature to solve life problems. we need to observe and learn the ways in which living organisms adapt and solve their own problems naturally.

    ReplyDelete