Information Age PDF

STS REVIEWER – FINALS INFORMATION AGE - Information is “knowledge” communicated or obtained concerning a specific fact or circumstance - Information is an essential tool for survival - The Information Age is defined as a “period starting in the last quarter...

STS REVIEWER – FINALS INFORMATION AGE - Information is “knowledge” communicated or obtained concerning a specific fact or circumstance - Information is an essential tool for survival - The Information Age is defined as a “period starting in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became effortlessly accessible through publications and the management of information by computers and computer networks” - The means of conveying symbolic information among humans has evolved rapidly. - The Information Age is also called the Digital Age and the New Media Age because it was associated with the development of computers. - According to James R. Messenger who proposed the Theory of the Information Age in 1982, “the Information Age is a true new age based upon the interconnection of computers via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a real-time and as-needed basis.  - Because of the abundance of - Huge computer systems that can information, it was difficult to fill an entire room. collect and manage them starting - They are used especially by large in the 1960s and 1970s. films to describe the large, - In the 1990s, information became expensive machines that process the currency of the business millions of transactions every day. world. 6. Wearable Computers - Information was the preferred - Involve materials that are usually medium of exchange, and the integrated into cellphones, information managers served as watches, and other small objects information officers. or places TECHNOLOGIES THE WORLD WIDE WEB (INTERNET) 1. Desktop Computer - Claude E. Shannon, an American - It is described as a PC that is not Mathematician who was designed for portability considered the “Father of - Set up in a permanent spot Information Theory.” - Most desktops offer more storage, - He worked at Bell Laboratories and power, and versatility than their at age 32, he published a paper portable versions proposing that information can be 2. Laptops quantitively encoded as a - These are portable computers sequence of ones and zeroes. - They are commonly called - The Internet is a worldwide system notebooks of interconnected networks that 3. Personal Digital Assistants facilitate data transmission among (PDAs) innumerable computers. - These are tightly integrated - It was developed during the 1970s computers that usually have no by the Department of Defense. keyboards but rely on touchscreen - The Internet was used mainly by for user input. scientists to communicate with - Typically, smaller than a other scientists. paperback, lightweight, and - The Internet remained under battery-powered government control until 1984. 4. Server - One early problem faced by - a computer that has been Internet users was speed improved to provide network - Google is now the world’s most services to other computers popular search engine, accepting - usually boasts powerful more than 200 million queries processors, tons of memory, and daily large hard drives - Electronic mail, or email, was a 5. Mainframes suitable way to send a message to  fellow workers, business partners, - The sequence information or friends. generated by the human genome - Messages could be sent and research, initiated in 1988, has received at the convenience of the now been stored as a primary individual information source for future - A letter that took several days to applications in medicine. arrive could be read in minutes. - For a population of about five - The Internet created a billion human beings with two technological divide that individuals differing in three increased the gap between the million bases members of the higher class and - This can be considered as the lower class of society biggest exercise in the history of - Nowadays, crimes in various computational biology forms are rampant because of the HOW TO CHECK THE RELIABILITY OF use of social media. WEB SOURCES - Cyberbullying is an issue that poses alarm worldwide. 1. Who is the author of the article/site? APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS IN 2. Who published the site? SCIENCE AND RESEARCH 3. What is the main purpose of the - Is evident in the field of site? Why did the author write it bioinformatics. and why did the publisher post it? - Bioinformatics Is the application of 4. Who is the intended audience? information technology to store, 5. What is the quality of information organize, and analyze vast provided on the website? amounts of biological data which Examples of Useful and Reliable Web is available in the form of Sources sequences and structures of proteins-the building blocks of 1. AFA (Alzheimer’s Foundation of organisms and nucleic acids-the America newsletter) information carrier 2. American Memory - Bioinformatics was established 3. Bartleby.com Great Books Online because of the need to create 4. Chronicling America databases of biological 5. Cyber Bullying sequences. 6. Drug Information websites - Computers and software tools are 7. Global Gateway widely used for generating these 8. Google Books databases and to identify the 9. Googlescholar.com function of proteins, model the 10. History sites with primary structure of proteins documents 11. Illinois Digital Archives  12. Internet Archives - Could have erratic effects not only 13. Internet Archive for CARLI digitized on wildlife or marine life but also resources on human beings. 14. Internet Public Library - The loss of these life forms could 15. Ipl2 affect the entire ecosystem 16. Librarians Internet Index governing that environment. 17. Making of America - The food chain might be damaged 18. Maps THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY 19. NationMaster 20. Nursing sites 1. Habitat loss and destruction 21. Project Gutenberg 2. Alterations in ecosystem 22. Shmoop composition 23. StateMaster 3. Over-exploitation 24. Virtual Reference 4. Pollution and contamination 5. Global climate change CONSEQUENCES OF BIODIVERSITY BIODIVERSITY AND THE HEALTHY LOSS SOCIETY - Intact ecosystems function best BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM since the organisms composing - Defined as the vast variety of life them are specialized forms in the entire Earth. - The particular species making up - “The variability among living an ecosystem determines its organisms from all sources, productivity, affects nutrient including terrestrial, marine, and cycles and soil contents, and other aquatic ecosystems and the influences environmental ecological complexes of which conditions such as water cycles, they are part weather patterns, climate, and - Biodiversity is the source of the other nonbiotic aspects. essential goods and ecological NUTRITIONAL IMPACT OF services that constitute the source BIODIVERSITY of life for all, and it has direct consumptive value in food, - Nutrition and biodiversity are agriculture, medicine, and linked at many levels: the industry. ecosystem, with food production - Biodiversity plays a major role in as an ecosystem service; the these natural dynamics species in the ecosystem; and the genetic diversity within species CHANGES IN BIODIVERSITY - Nutritional composition between foods can differ dramatically,  affecting micronutrient availability clearing of land, generating in the diet. pollution and waste, and so on - Habitat simplification, species - Climate change could also have a loss, and species succession often serious impact on human health enhance communities, and could deteriorate farming vulnerabilities as a function of systems and reduce nutrients in environmental receptivity to ill some foods. health. - Relationships between human health and the environment raise HEALTH, BIOLOGY, AND BIODIVERSITY many ethical, social, and legal - Basic needs of living organisms dilemmas by forcing people to such as air, water, food, and choose among competing values. habitat are provided by its - The extreme action of stopping all environment pesticide uses could significantly - The evolution of human beings reduce agricultural productivity, was due to improved access to leading to food shartages and these basic needs. increased food prices which - Advances in agriculture, would, in turn, increase starvation sanitation, water treatment, and in some parts of the world. hygiene have had a far greater - Climate Change is likely to cause impact on human health than tremendous harm to the medical technology. environment and human health, - Environmental hazards increase nut taking steps to drastically the risk of cancer, heart disease, reduce greenhouse gases could asthma, and many other illnesses. have adverse consequences for - These hazards can be physical, global, national, and local such as pollution, toxic chemicals, economies. and food contaminants, or they - A vulnerable subpopulation is a can be social, such as dangerous group with an increased work, poor housing conditions, susceptibility to the adverse urban sprawl, and poverty. effects of an environmental risk factor, due to their age, genetics, ENVIRONMENTAL-RELATED ILLNESSES health status, or some other - Hospitals use large quantities of condition. electricity and fossil fuels and produce medical waste. - A reduction in mortality from GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS: starvation or disease can lead to SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND POLITICS overpopulation, which stresses GMO the environment in many different ways-increasing use of fossil fuels,  - Is the term used for an organism - Shrub tobacco created through genetic 5. Enzyme and drug production engineering. - CGTase - WHO defines GMO as an - Artemesin “organism, either plant, animal, or 6. GMOs in the medical field microorganism, in which the - Humulin genetic material (DNA) has been Benefits of GMOs altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or - Higher efficiency in farming natural recombination.” - Increase in harvest - Control in fertility HOW BACTERIAL GENE IS INTRODUCED - Increase in food processing Bacteria -> DNA Extraction and Isolation - - Improvement of desirable > Cloning and Designing Genes -> characteristics Transmission -> Cell and Tissue Culture - - Nutritional and pharmaceutical > Plant Breeding enhancement - Reduce the use of fertilizer and GMOs in Food and Agricultural pesticides Industries Potential Risks of GMOs 1. Pest Resistance - Bt Corn 1. Since genetic engineering is still a 2. Virus Resistance young branch of science, there are - GM papaya or Rainbow Papaya inadequate studies on the effects 3. Herbicide Tolerance of GMOs on humans and the - Roundup Ready Soybean environment 4. Fortification 2. Genetic engineering promotes - Golden Rice mutation in organisms the long- 5. Cosmetic Preservation term effect is still unknown - Arctic Apple 3. Human consumption of GMOs 6. Increase growth rate might have the following effects - AquAdvantage Salmon - More allergic reactions - Gene mutation GMOs in Non-Food Crops and - Antibiotic resistance Microorganisms - Nutritional value 1. Flower Production Potential Environmental Risks Caused - Blue Roses by GMOs 2. Paper production - Popular trees 1. Risk in gene flow 3. Pharmaceutical productions 2. Emergence of new forms of - Periwinkle plants resistance and secondary pests 4. Bioremediation and weed problems  3. Recombination of Virus and How Small is a Nanoscale Bacteria to produce new - A nanometer is a billionth of a pathogens meter or 10 of a meter How to View Nanomaterials 1. Electron microscope Potential Human Health Risks caused 2. Atomic force microscope (AFM) by GMOs 3. Scanning Tunneling Microscope Some potential human health risks are Nanomanufacturing identified 1. Bottom-up fabrication - Consumption of GMOs may have 2. Top-down fabrication adverse effects since it is not - Dip pen lithography naturally or organically produced - Self-assembly - Consumption of GMOs may alter - Chemical vapor deposition the balance of existing - Nanoimprint lithography microorganisms in the human - Molecular beam epitaxy digestive system - Roll-to-roll processing - Production of toxins may be - Atomic layer epitaxy detrimental to human health Distinct Features of Nanoscale - Production of allergens may have adverse effects on humans 1. Scale at which much biology occurs Other potential risks that raise major 2. Scale at which quantum effects concern dominate properties of materials - Human Genome Project (HGP) 3. Nanoscale materials have far - Mutation of genetically engineered larger surface areas than similar microorganisms masses of larger-scale materials - Cloning Government Funding for Biosafety on GMOs Nanotechnology in Different Countries - The Codex Alimentarius 1. U.S. National Nanotechnology Commission (Codex) Initiative - Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 2. European Commission - International Trade Agreement on 3. Japan (Nanotechnology Research labeling of GM food and food Institute, under the National products Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST) 4. Taiwan (Taiwan National Science THE NANO WORLD and Technology Program for  Nanoscience and 1. Nanotechnology is not a single Nanotechnology) technology; it may become 5. India (Nanotechnology Research pervasive and Education Foundation) 2. Nanotechnology seeks to develop 6. China (National Center for new materials with specific Nanoscience and Technology) properties 7. Israel (Israel National 3. Nanotechnology may introduce Nanotechnology Initiative) new efficiencies and paradigms 8. Australia (Australian Office of that may make some natural Nanotechnology) resources and current practices 9. Canada (National Institute for uncompetitive or obsolete Nanotechnology or NINT) 4. It may be complicated to detect its 10. South Korea (Korea National presence unless one has the Nanotechnology Initiative specialist tools of nanotechnology 11. Thailand (National Nanotechnology Center or NANOTEC) THE ASPECTS OF GENE THERAPY 12. Malaysia (National [Malaysia] The Basic Process Nanotechnology Initiatives or NNI) - Replacement of mutated gene that Possible Applications of Nanotechnology causes disease with a healthy in the Philippines copy of the gene 1. ICT and semiconductors - Inactivation of a mutated gene that 2. Health and medicine is functioning improperly 3. Energy - Introducing a new gene into the 4. Food and agriculture body to help fight a disease 5. Environment Two Types of Gene Therapy Nanotech Roadmap for the Philippines Somatic gene therapy – involves the (funded by PCAS-TRD-DOST) manipulation of genes in cells that will be 1. ICT and semiconductors helpful to the patient but not inherited to 2. Health and biomedical the next generation 3. Energy Germ-line gene therapy – involves the 4. Environment genetic modification of germ cells or the 5. Agriculture and food origin cells that will pass the change on to 6. Health and environmental risk the next generation 7. Nano-metrology 8. Education and public awareness Stem Cell Gene Therapy Benefits and Concerns of Using Nanotechnology  - Stem cells are mother cells that - The Carbon Dioxide Theory have the potential to become any Human Activities type of cell in the body - Stem cells are derived from - Burning of fossil fuels different sources - Greenhouse Gases - Deforestation Embryonic stem cells are derived from a - Ozone four- or five-day-old human embryo that - Halocarbons is in the blastocyst phase of development - Aerosoles Somatic stem cells are cells that exists Effects of Climate Change on Society throughout the body after embryonic development and are found inside - It could cause severe affects to all different types of tissue. life forms around our planet. - It will increase worldwide deaths The Bioethics of Gene Therapy from malnutrition and heat stress 1. How can “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy be distinguished? 2. Who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability or disorder? 3. Will the high costs of gene therapy make it available only to the wealthy? 4. Could the widespread use of gene therapy make society less accepting of people who are different? 5. Should people be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits such as height, intelligence, or athletic ability? CLIMATE CHANGE Causes of Climate Change Natural Causes - Volcanic Eruptions - Orbital changes