Monday, March 21, 2011
Did You Know That Food You Eat May Be Growing In Stuff That You Once Flushed Down The Toilet?
With an ever-increasing population, it seems clear that manufacturers must find new and modern methods of producing enough food to feed everyone. Farmers all over the world have begun to find new ways of fertilizing their crops in an effective and seemingly sustainable manner: biosolids. These biosolids are exactly the byproducts of domestic and commercial sewage treatment. In other words, it is human waste that has been treated repeatedly to remove any toxins and pathogens, which is then used by farmers as fertilizer to grow crops which we will eventually consume, only to start the cycle all over again. Human waste is rich in phosphates which are vital to plant growth, and a Vancouver company is already developing a process by which the phosphates can be extracted, which could turn into an enormous industry in it. But are biosolids really the best choice to address our needs? Could they be the fuel of the future? As we move towards new and sustainable resources, biosolids might be able to answer all our needs.
Although already treated, biosolids have been often seen to be breeding grounds for bacteria, pathogens and other contaminants that would be taken in by the plants which we would end up consuming. Biosolid treatment plants take great care in proving that contaminants are dealt with. The waste is forced, heated, and the pH is raised to kill off anything that would eventually be harmful to humans. Groundwater can also be permanently contaminated by drained biosolids. The main concerns about using biosolids as fertilizer are the harmful effects that they could have on our health and the environment. But biosolids have been used as fertilizers for many years now, and scientists cannot provide any evidence of sickness or health issues related to their use.
The positive effects of biosolid fertilization are quite evident in its maintaining. The source of the fertilizer comes from our waste, which would come from the use of food. The energy continues to be used in a cycle and fuels the agricultural area in a way that doesn’t use up many resources, but things that were already present and would have ended up in a landfill anyways. In a sense, by using the waste as fertilizer instead of allowing it to sit in a landfill and contribute to our large garbage output, it is a great eco-friendly solution to a large problem modern society has to deal with. And as more and more companies are developing methods to create fuels or sources of energy from biosolids, it seems possible that they could be used as ways to greatly reduce the carbon footprint agriculture leaves on the environment.
Everything has its pros and cons, and it’s often seen that endures must be made to take full advantage of the pros. The cons of biosolid fertilization are definitely issues that are cause for concern, but have been addressed in the way of sanitation and removal of pathogens. It seems quite evident that the use of biosolid as fertilization is a very good alternative to traditional fertilizers that end up with the same results. The effect biosolids have on the environment is very uncertain, but the possibility of leaching into groundwater is also a problem of landfills. If care is taken to ensure the safety of the groundwater, biosolids are a great way to fertilize crops in an eco-friendly manner.
Even with all that biosolid fertilization can offer, people feel that it is disgusting since we eventually eat food that was previously grown in our waste. It’s easy to say the majority of North Americans consider our human waste as disgusting, but if it is contributing to a greater cause, what’s the difference? They’re not directly eating the biosolids, but plants that take the otherwise unused nutrients from our waste and twist. Who’s to say that simply because it doesn’t accommodate to the views of society that we shouldn’t be attempting to move towards new innovation? Even at the moment, fertilizers being used right now can come from other waste sources simply because they actually help the growth of plants.
Biosolids, although technically the stuff that we don’t want anymore, seem to be an energy source of the future, being used for phosphates and other compounds, while being used as fertilizers of the present. There are some downsides, but it seems the eco-friendly sustainability of the process is proof that modern society is moving towards new and improved ways of doing things that need to be changed. Although it seems gross, biosolids are simply the first step on the path to a new, more sustainable tomorrow.
Sources:
The Beauty of Biosolids - Environmental Health Perspectives
Biosolids seen as a fertilizer alternative - Southeast Farm Press
Biosolids/Sewage Sludge - Greenworks
Sewage Sludge, Pros and Cons - Mindfully.org
Comments:
Dora Lam
Harriet Austria
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Did You Know Biotechnology Can't Fix Everything?
Let's face it: we're probably not the type of a healthy living right now. Sure, we all try our best to live healthy lifestyles, but it just doesn't always work out. Surrounded by fast food restaurants, chocolate bars and the attraction to be a couch potato, it's a wonder that anyone is in great health. As with any part of technology, the most successful one deals with what's happening in the moment. It seems that as society continues to develop, we need technology to match our new lifestyles. Many kinds of diseases and disorders that have been left a mystery are becoming more and more treatable by doctors worldwide. These advances are seen as progress in the biotechnological field, allowing technology to play a great role in the medical field. Although this is all true, it also seems that technological advances are not certainly pushing us to change our lifestyles, but rather dealing with the way we already live.
A general technological advance is the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. It uses a large pull and the hydrogen protons in the human body to create images through the way tissues in the body react with these magnetized protons. Using this system, doctors have controlled to analyze various illnesses without needing surgeries of any kind, including vascular, digestive and respiratory problems. Technology being able to help people with many different kinds of problems is surely something to appreciate.
Diet is one of the areas in which society has definitely changed. Many people don't have the time to cook food anymore, leading to more store-bought meals and food. Add in the nights out at restaurants and the snack foods between meals and you've got the perfect formula for heart disease. It's known that restaurants want their food to taste the best and please their customers, but it all comes at the cost of salt and fats. All of these fats will end up leading to clogged arteries, which is a major health concern.
Clogged arteries can be factors leading to many different types of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes and high-blood pressure. Fat deposits gather at one point in the artery, and can reduce their diameter far, leading to those problems. Blood clots are also a problem, often being formed at the clogged points and breaking the amount of blood and oxygen movement even more. Sometimes, when arteries are completely clogged, a heart bypass surgery is necessary. This is a type of open heart surgery where blood vessels are taken from other areas of the body and the clogged portion is replaced. Although generally successful, it can be sometimes very risky and dangerous for the patient.
There are two new technological advances that have most likely new methods of dealing with clogged arteries. Researchers in Israel have evolved protein-based injections that can help the regrowth of blood vessels. This can lead to the removal of bypass surgery all together. “The growth of new blood vessels happens within a few weeks, showing improved blood circulation,” says Dr. Britta Hardy (Science Daily). The new blood vessels are mixed into the circulatory system and have produced affirming results in mice. The second method comes from Sweden, where Helen Fink has used bacteria to synthesize new blood vessels. Acetobacter xylinym is a bacterium that can produce cellulose-based blood vessels agreeing with the natural human body's circulatory system.
The truth is there is only so much that most technology can do. They can give you all the materials and resources to help reduce the chance of damaging the major systems, but if people don't want to change their lifestyle for the better, there is nothing else that can be done. Sure, biotechnology has taken us further in providing easy ways of becoming healthier, such as methods of getting fresh vegetables all year. Most of the technological advances involve fixing the consequences of our actions, instead of the problem. Maybe it's because we can't see past the issues in our sights, or maybe it's because we don't accept the root as a problem. Either way, something is going to have to change.
Although biotechnology has definitely improved over the years, offering advances that cater to the needs of people facing illness, it seems that something still must be changed to completely fix the problem. We need to become more focused on living healthy lives, whether that is through proper diet or active lifestyles. We can't depend on technology to fix all of our problems, especially since it was one of the causes of our current situation. Even as technology continues to improve the field of medicine, it is still up to us, as the individuals, to take action and improve our quality of life by being the form of healthy living.
Sources:
Advances of MRI - Express Healthcare Management
"New developments in heart bypass surgery"http://battlingforhealth.com/2009/12/new-developments-in-heart-bypass-surgery/?doing_wp_cron
Bacteria make artificial blood vessel of the future - ScienceDaily
Bypassing Bypass Surgery: New Blood Vessels Grown to Combat Heart Disease - ScienceDaily
Comments:
Dora Lam
Claudia Luk
A general technological advance is the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. It uses a large pull and the hydrogen protons in the human body to create images through the way tissues in the body react with these magnetized protons. Using this system, doctors have controlled to analyze various illnesses without needing surgeries of any kind, including vascular, digestive and respiratory problems. Technology being able to help people with many different kinds of problems is surely something to appreciate.
Diet is one of the areas in which society has definitely changed. Many people don't have the time to cook food anymore, leading to more store-bought meals and food. Add in the nights out at restaurants and the snack foods between meals and you've got the perfect formula for heart disease. It's known that restaurants want their food to taste the best and please their customers, but it all comes at the cost of salt and fats. All of these fats will end up leading to clogged arteries, which is a major health concern.
Clogged arteries can be factors leading to many different types of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes and high-blood pressure. Fat deposits gather at one point in the artery, and can reduce their diameter far, leading to those problems. Blood clots are also a problem, often being formed at the clogged points and breaking the amount of blood and oxygen movement even more. Sometimes, when arteries are completely clogged, a heart bypass surgery is necessary. This is a type of open heart surgery where blood vessels are taken from other areas of the body and the clogged portion is replaced. Although generally successful, it can be sometimes very risky and dangerous for the patient.
There are two new technological advances that have most likely new methods of dealing with clogged arteries. Researchers in Israel have evolved protein-based injections that can help the regrowth of blood vessels. This can lead to the removal of bypass surgery all together. “The growth of new blood vessels happens within a few weeks, showing improved blood circulation,” says Dr. Britta Hardy (Science Daily). The new blood vessels are mixed into the circulatory system and have produced affirming results in mice. The second method comes from Sweden, where Helen Fink has used bacteria to synthesize new blood vessels. Acetobacter xylinym is a bacterium that can produce cellulose-based blood vessels agreeing with the natural human body's circulatory system.
The truth is there is only so much that most technology can do. They can give you all the materials and resources to help reduce the chance of damaging the major systems, but if people don't want to change their lifestyle for the better, there is nothing else that can be done. Sure, biotechnology has taken us further in providing easy ways of becoming healthier, such as methods of getting fresh vegetables all year. Most of the technological advances involve fixing the consequences of our actions, instead of the problem. Maybe it's because we can't see past the issues in our sights, or maybe it's because we don't accept the root as a problem. Either way, something is going to have to change.
Although biotechnology has definitely improved over the years, offering advances that cater to the needs of people facing illness, it seems that something still must be changed to completely fix the problem. We need to become more focused on living healthy lives, whether that is through proper diet or active lifestyles. We can't depend on technology to fix all of our problems, especially since it was one of the causes of our current situation. Even as technology continues to improve the field of medicine, it is still up to us, as the individuals, to take action and improve our quality of life by being the form of healthy living.
Sources:
Advances of MRI - Express Healthcare Management
"New developments in heart bypass surgery"http://battlingforhealth.com/2009/12/new-developments-in-heart-bypass-surgery/?doing_wp_cron
Bacteria make artificial blood vessel of the future - ScienceDaily
Bypassing Bypass Surgery: New Blood Vessels Grown to Combat Heart Disease - ScienceDaily
Comments:
Dora Lam
Claudia Luk
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Hmm... Looks Like A Planned Parenting
As our community continues to develop, people want the best and the latest improvements on what they already have. There's always something better, something that is more efficient and gets the job done in easier way than previously.
Plants and animals are not immune to this human need to get what they want. Breeding and raising livestock and agriculture for specific traits is considered ‘artificial selection’, which is the opposite of natural selection. Whereas natural selection occurs because of environmental pressures, artificial selection is when humans choose one desirable trait and continually breed for that trait until it satisfies the needs of the people. By selecting what traits are wanted, they can slowly weed out traits that are less than optimal for any given organism.
Although we may not realize it, many of the things around us come from artificially selected sources. Those tomatoes are resistant to pests or disease, that bread is made from wheat that grows faster and survives better, and the roses in your garden were artificially selected to create a hybrid that would be easy to grow and beautifully pleasing. Let’s not forget about the things that wouldn’t exist without artificial selection. Corn, broccoli, and the banana are just some of the crops that never would have graced our dinner plates if they hadn’t been bred into existence. All of these plants are present today because of the role humans have played in their artificially selected lineage.
Animals are also subjected to humans’ influence in their offspring and breeding. All domesticated animals have been bred to suit out needs. All dogs belong to the same genus and species, but the different kinds exist only because humans have isolated desired traits and bred for them. Cats have the same story, deriving from the same source but being bred for behavioural and aesthetic preferences. Livestock of our modern age has bee n chosen specifically for whatever role they are to play. Cows can be bred specifically for milk production, chickens for egg production, and pigs for their muscle mass. Without these specifically chosen traits, the amount of food products in the world wouldn’t be able to support the current population. Many harvests would fail from pests and disease, and animals would take more energy being raised then they could offer in the form of food.
Without the artificial selection and breeding that many organisms have been subject to, the human race would not have been able to survive in the large number we currently live in. Artificial selection might be seen as having no real impact on ourselves right now, but the truth is, that it really does. That being said, I think it is plain to see that it is needed, and that it is acceptable for everyone. Many things would be lost without it, and our world would be completely different. Take a look around you, and imagine all the things that wouldn’t be there if artificial selection was deemed ‘improper use of biological technology’. It may just be an industrial method to earn money without much cost, but the truth is, without it, our lives would be extremely different.
Sources:
"Artificial Selection" - Global Oneness
"Choosing the Fittest" - Life's Big Instruction Book
"Comparison of Natural and Artificial Selection" - Helium.com
"Selective Breeding" - Biology Online
Comments:
Wayne Yeung
Erica Wright
Plants and animals are not immune to this human need to get what they want. Breeding and raising livestock and agriculture for specific traits is considered ‘artificial selection’, which is the opposite of natural selection. Whereas natural selection occurs because of environmental pressures, artificial selection is when humans choose one desirable trait and continually breed for that trait until it satisfies the needs of the people. By selecting what traits are wanted, they can slowly weed out traits that are less than optimal for any given organism.
Although we may not realize it, many of the things around us come from artificially selected sources. Those tomatoes are resistant to pests or disease, that bread is made from wheat that grows faster and survives better, and the roses in your garden were artificially selected to create a hybrid that would be easy to grow and beautifully pleasing. Let’s not forget about the things that wouldn’t exist without artificial selection. Corn, broccoli, and the banana are just some of the crops that never would have graced our dinner plates if they hadn’t been bred into existence. All of these plants are present today because of the role humans have played in their artificially selected lineage.
Animals are also subjected to humans’ influence in their offspring and breeding. All domesticated animals have been bred to suit out needs. All dogs belong to the same genus and species, but the different kinds exist only because humans have isolated desired traits and bred for them. Cats have the same story, deriving from the same source but being bred for behavioural and aesthetic preferences. Livestock of our modern age has bee n chosen specifically for whatever role they are to play. Cows can be bred specifically for milk production, chickens for egg production, and pigs for their muscle mass. Without these specifically chosen traits, the amount of food products in the world wouldn’t be able to support the current population. Many harvests would fail from pests and disease, and animals would take more energy being raised then they could offer in the form of food.
Without the artificial selection and breeding that many organisms have been subject to, the human race would not have been able to survive in the large number we currently live in. Artificial selection might be seen as having no real impact on ourselves right now, but the truth is, that it really does. That being said, I think it is plain to see that it is needed, and that it is acceptable for everyone. Many things would be lost without it, and our world would be completely different. Take a look around you, and imagine all the things that wouldn’t be there if artificial selection was deemed ‘improper use of biological technology’. It may just be an industrial method to earn money without much cost, but the truth is, without it, our lives would be extremely different.
Sources:
"Artificial Selection" - Global Oneness
"Choosing the Fittest" - Life's Big Instruction Book
"Comparison of Natural and Artificial Selection" - Helium.com
"Selective Breeding" - Biology Online
Comments:
Wayne Yeung
Erica Wright
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