SCITECH: ITECH, AI, BIOTECH

• Information technology involves computer hardware, computer software, telecommunications, databases and data warehouses, and human resources & procedures

Telecommunications

• Connects hardware to form a network through wired or wireless connections
• Networks can be local area networks (LAN) or wide area networks (WAN).
• The Internet is a network of networks

Computer Hardware

• Physical technology that works with information
• Hardware can range in size from smartphones to supercomputers

Computer Software

• System software and application software
• The operating systems like Windows and iOS manage hardware
• Application software is tailored for specific task, such as writing documents or designing web pages

Database and Data Warehouse

• A database collects data to be retrieved by querying it using specific criteria
• A data warehouse contains all of an organization's data in whatever form needed
• The importance of data warehouses has increased with the emergence of "big data"

Human Resources and Procedures

• Possibly the most important component of information system
• Needed to follow certain procedures that convert data into learning, to interpret the past and guide future action

Artificial Intelligence

• A way of making a computer, robot, or software think and act like a human.
• Involves neural networks, knowledge, planning, robotics, machine learning, perception, and natural language processing

Biotechnology

• Technology that utilizes biological systems, living organisms, or parts of these to develop or create different products
• Exploits biological processes especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc

Personalized Medicine

• Stem cell research emphasizes using a patient's own cells to design highly personalized treatment options

Gene Variation

• Refers to differences in the genetic makeup of individuals in a population
• Necessary in natural selection

Nanomedicine

• A nanotechnology which treat and prevent of disease
• Involves the use of nanoscale materials, biocompatible nanoparticles and nanorobots, for diagnosis, delivery, sensing or actuation purposes

Stem Cells

• Special human cells with the ability to develop into many different cell types, from muscle cells to brain cells and to repair damaged tissues

Proteomics

• Rapidly growing field of molecular biology
• Uses a systematic appraoch with high results to analyze protein expression of a cell or an organism

Synthetic Biology

• Aims to design, synthesize, test and deploy antigens and variants with rapid results, high expression and capacity
• Enables development of immunogens engineered for efficacy and high titer and produces rapid assays for purification of the immunogens

Eugenics

“Good Creation” is the practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits. This aims to reduce human suffering

Genetic Modification

• Technique used to manipulate the genetic composition of an organism by adding specific useful genes
• A gene is a sequence of DNA that contains information that determines a particular characteristic/trait
• Crops developed through genetic modification are referred to as genetically modified (GM) crops, transgenic crops or genetically engineered (GE) crops

CRISPR

• Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
• Has seen huge breakthroughs, including use to remove HIV from animals and the first genetically edited human embryo
• It can slow down cancer growth and potentially create new organisms CRISPR may reduce several deadly diseases and offer a possible cure for Huntington's disease
• CRISPR can be used to modify viruses that kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria, revolutionize DNA storage, and can be used as biofuel

CRISPR and COVID-19

• CRISPR is now being used to eliminate COVID-19 virus genomes in cells
• Potential therapies through CRISPR could help slow down or eliminate the outbreak