Environmental Pollution and Invasive Species

Environmental Pollution

• An unnatural increase in concentrations of environmental compounds such as heavy metals, radionuclides, nitrates, phosphates, cyanides, agricultural wastes, sewage, pathogens, gases, and particulates.

Invasive Alien Species (IAS)

• Exotic micro- and macro- species introduced accidentally or deliberately to a place that is not part of their natural habitat or distributional range.

Threats to Biodiversity

• Habitat Destruction
• Exploitation
• Overpopulation
• Non-native species
• Global Climate Change
• Pollution
• Human Activities

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

• Genetically Modified Organisms
• Use of vectors (plasmids or cosmids) to accept foreign DNA for transformation
• Plasmid: an extra-chromosomal element capable of independent replication
• Restriction Enzyme: an enzyme that cuts DNA
• Cloning: a technique used to alter or move genetic material (genes) of living cells

Biotechnology

• Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT): a toxin inserted in corn to resist pests and pesticides
• Genetically modified corn, cotton, and cassava
• Golden Rice: modified rice containing beta-carotene
• Jatropha: a plant similar to palm oil

Biodiversity and Ecology

• Biodiversity: the multitude of living organisms and how they interact with each other and their environment
• Habitat: the physical environment to which a species has become adapted
• Niche: the role of a species as a producer and consumer of food resources
• Species: a group of interbreeding organisms with the same structures
• Extinction: the total disappearance of a species
• Genetic Diversity: variation or differences in the genes of a species or individual
• Species Diversity: diversity of number of species
• Community Diversity: variety of ecosystem in a given region

Nanotechnology

• Nano: billionth of a quantity, represented mathematically as 1 × 10^(-9)
• Nanotechnology: a new area of scientific research focusing on particles too minute to be seen
• Nanomaterials: minute particles
• Nanoethics: the study of the ethical and social dimensions of nanotechnology

Genetics

• Gene: the unit of heredity
• Genetic Disorder: a disease caused by an abnormality in an individual's DNA
• Vector: an organism that does not cause disease itself, but which carries the DNA from one host to another
• Defective gene: a gene that does not work properly
• Stem Cell: a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types.