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.

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

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

Can We Return The Baby If It Doesn't Look Right?

In a world consumed with achievement, it’s no wonder that people have started to turn to genetic engineering to protect out different diseases linked to genetic disorders. Cystic Fibrosis, Down syndrome and Anemia are just some of the over 4 000 currently known genetic disorders, coming from any of the 30 000 genes that are present in the 23 chromosomes of a human being. All these advances are giving the human population greater long life and hope to those who suffer from serious illness attached to genetics. But these motions are also resulting in a new trend throughout the world: genetically engineering your baby. Sounds like fun, right? All of this is becoming a reality as genetic engineering transcends in what we’ve ever thought possible; it’s gone from fixing life and death errors to “fixing” the future. 

All of this is done through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) where the embryo is “created” in a little test tube or Petri dish in a nice, sterilized lab. The little embryo, along with a few other of its “siblings” sit in ideal conditions until a cell can be gathered and screened for the eventual traits of the future child. Based on what the parents want, a suitable embryo is then selected and placed into the mother, where it develops like a normal embryo would. And YAY! You’ve got yourself your “dream child”.

I’m sure it sounds tempting. But one large problem is the future of children if genetically engineered children become widespread over natural children. And well, it has already begun to become popular around the world in the form of gender selection. Can you imagine being told you should be what your parents want you to be because they paid thousands of dollars for you? If genetically engineered children become popular, and they probably will, it seems that parenting will begin to lose the warmth and love that is supposed to go along with it, and become a competition of the best child, along with giving parents a mindset of “I paid a lot of money for you, so you better turn out the way I planned.”

Using IVF creates many embryos, from which only one is selected. The fertilization clinic is then responsible for the rest of the unused embryos. More often than not, they’re just abandoned as if they were unimportant. This brings up the debate of whether or not an embryo is considered “living” and has a right to remain so, even if the parents don’t want it.

This newfound industry has definitely gotten out of hand. Machine learning was supposed to be able to create perfect “humans” that would fit into society. Who needs to build robots when you can just build a baby? This certain future is going to take the depth of parenting and turn it into a competition that is going to homogenize society, along with throwing everything out of balance not to mention the embryos that are being thrown away like trash.

Sources:

"Designer Babies- "Like it or Not here they come"

"Designer Babies: "A Right To Choose?"

"A Baby, Please. Blond Freckles-- Hold the Colic"

"The Great Designer Baby Controversy of ’09"

Comments:

Claudia Luk

Marc Gonzales

Humans vs Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the basics of continuing life in the environment.Without biodiversity, species of organisms during the whole of the world would be affected to events such as diseases and environmental accidents that would most likely wipe out the whole population. By way of having biodiversity, protected organisms would be able to survive, and will continue a population by passing on the protected DNA. Except how are humans affecting biodiversity? Humans are affecting biodiversity in a way that could be certain negatives. We know that humans have been on Earth for thousands of years or more, and have been affected by the same things as animals, like natural choice and changes. Distant other organisms, we do not let the weak to fall to predators because they prevent the rest of society, but we show tender feeling and shelter them from dangers that nature would regularly act. While animals increase to change to new environments influence by global warming, humans easily develop tools to battle their changing environments. The truth is that everything we do changes other organisms everywhere, which is leading to a failure in biodiversity.

Individual way that humans have greatly changed biodiversity is through  forestry worldwide. Regular forestry, we limit the number of natural habitats available to animals. Planting seedlings where trees had just been cut down may help, but not the animals that need larger trees to survive. With declining habitats, smaller organisms begin to become more centered, and become changed by limiting factors. These limiting factors cause high selection, and remove the weaker organisms from the species. By removing many of the weak at the same time, in some important historical information is lost forever, breaking the biodiversity of the species.

Although organisms lower on the food chain are not the only ones influenced by habitat loss. Organisms higher up are also affected, more to a higher level. As habitat is lost, the population of smaller organisms decreases, so will the animals above it. This  highly changes the biodiversity of a species, and places the species at risk of death from just one disease. 

Agriculture is one area that is highly affected by biodiversity. The human race is bent on  completing  work rate and effectiveness, no matter the cost. That's why crops nowadays are being bred and naturally  become to be bigger, have a shorter growing season, and become protected to common fungi and diseases. You might think that it's okay, since they're helping become protected to certain things, but it leaves the crops to be weak to others.

 

Us humans have a negative effect on biodiversity with the growth of our land. Habitats are lost, and animals of all trophic levels are being affect through the loss of historical material. By breeding plants and animals to fulfill the needs of humans. Biodiversity is a block upon which the world strands, and we're slowly letting it  wear  away. Soon enough, we will all realize what we've done to this world and what the future will hold.

Sources:

"Scientific Facts on Biodiversity and Human Well-being"

"Defining species: The indirect impact of humans on biodiversity"

What is Biodiversity?

Comments:

Claudia Luk

Vanessa Lee