BioEntrepreneurial Idea

A product people would pay for would be an arm wrap that diagnoses diseases and any malfunction of the body through electrical impulses that travel through the nerves. After the wrap diagnoses it, it sends an impulse through the nerves to tell the brain to make antibodies for this disease or that disease. If the disease is not curable through antibodies, then it uses the last resort mode. The last resort mode is the only mode that activates lasers on the wrap to pinpoint where a specific virus, bacteria, or fungus is and destroy it. For example, AIDS has to be killed with the last resort mode because it doesn't respond to any antibiotics or medication.

It would look like a cast for the arm with a sling. There would also be a touch-screen monitor for the user to be able to reach and see. There are voice-activation capabilities also to ensure the user is most comfortable if they cant reach the screen. The sling is ambidextrous so any arm can put it on. It is the most non-lethal, convenient, and non-painful thing you would ever try.

I would think that this would work. Of course, there are some faults to it, like the touch-screen monitor. I just added it so the idea would sink in with cooler gadgets and such. To me, it would solve any problem.

http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/orthopaedics/casts.html

Biological Breakthrough

Scientists are now able to produce zebra fish who deserve the bizarre names given to them: Half-baked, Avalanche, Speed Bump, Zombie, Ogre, Lost-A-Fin, Piggy Tail, Snow White, Bashful, Sleepy, Cyclops, Mind Bomb, Uncle Freddy, Dogeared, Van Gogh, Silentheart, and Throbless. Small groups of scientists around the world have been working to generate embryos of zebra fish whose development was lethally interrupted by a single gene mutation.The simplified process of achieving these embryos begins with taking a male zebra fish and dunking it in the chemical mutagen ethylnitrosourea. These fish are then bred to create mutated embryos. These mutations effected the embryos in a myriad of ways, such as miswired nervous systems, pigmentation defects, eye abnormalities, and tail malformations, and undeveloped muscles. Several mutations disrupted epiboly, the very first cellular movement of the embryo. The zebra fish embryo depends on a yolk-laden cell until they can feed themselves. During normal epiboly, the cells spread over the yolk. The research ultimately identified mutations in about 600 specific genes.

Many varieties of heart mutations were discovered. These mutants have established thathearts are assembled by sets of genes that are responsible for discreet parts of the organ. It is hoped that by researching the mutants, the scientists will be able to understand why congenital heart disease occurs in humans. Zebra fish with improper blood formation have also been developed. One mutated zebra fish named dracula died when it was exposed to light. The red blood cells became fluorescent and popped. It was originally though that this mutant developed no blood, but it was later discovered that if the fish was raised in he dark, it would have blood. However, an enzyme deficiency makes the blood pigment sensitive to light. There are related enzyme deficiencies, called porphyrias, that cause human diseases.
It is the hope of these scientists that by studying the mutated genes of these fish they will be able to identify and clone all of the genes used by a developing vertebrate embryo.

For the first time, a cell had been identified in the embryo that could induce neural tissue. By identifying the genes responsible for disturbed nervous systems in the mutants, the scientists hope to discover the exact nature of the signals. Scientists have almost entirely mapped out the genetic structures of the zebra fish by studying the mutants. This knowledge allows them to hone in on the genes of the fish much faster. The faster the genes can be identified, the faster they can be cloned. The ultimate purpose of the zebra fish mutations is to clone vertebrates.

Besides cloning live animals, scientists could replace mutated genes in humans that are causing diseases if they can effectively clone "healthy" genes. While the prospect of human cloning and its ramifications frightens many, gene cloning has other uses.

I realize that this is a really great discovery for all of us. The fact that scientist can now identify genes at a faster pace and clone them. Thus, somewhat ending the extinction of animals. One of the mutations is called Cyclops because the fish has only one eye. That is a perfect example of scientists mutating an animal.

Links:

http://www.fi.edu/qa98/biology/journals/part6.html

Biological Entrepreneurship

Someone I have researched on the biotechnological company of Genentech is Robert A. Swanson. He co-founded the company of Genentech in 1976 with Dr. Herbert Boyer, a biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco. He asked Byer about the possibility of developing biotechnology using recombinant DNA to make useful products. He served diligently as director and as CEO (chief executive officer) until February of 1990, when he became chairmen of the board, a position he rightfully claimed as his prior to his retirement in December of 1996. Because of Swanson's leadership, Genentech provided extensive dispensations that are biologically-based such as human insulin, interferons, HGH (Human Growth Hormone), and thrombolytic agents. Before forming Genentech, he was a partner with Kleiner & Perkins venture capital in San Francisco and he was also an investment officer with Citicorp. He formed the K&E Management, a private investment management firm. Swanson earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Master of Science in Management from MIT's Sloan School of Management. He was on the Committee of the Overseers' Visiting Committee of the Harvard Medical School and ministered to the /board of Fellows of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University. Also appointed to the Royal Swedish academy of Engineering Sciences. Robert Swanson conduced to numerous civic and cultural activities like being a trustee of the San Francisco Ballet, the Museum of Contemporasry Art, the San Jose Tech Center, and as chairman of the board of Nueva School.

Picture and Link
http://www.gene.com/gene/about/corporate/history/founders.html

Human Eye Lecture: Dr. Pamela Fong

Last Friday, Dr. Pamela Fong, an optometrist, came to my Biology class and talked about how to be an optometrist. She said she took in high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Also, she told us she took these three courses again plus microbiology and anatomy in college.



She told us about the eye in general and told us about the parts of the eye. She started with the cornea, which is the main focusing lens of the eye. Next, she told us about the iris, which is the colored part of the eye that has fibers on it that have many colors, but from afar, it looks like someone has only one color because the color that you could see from afar is just light reflecting off. Then she told us about the pupil, which lets light in and could dilate or tighten depending on the level of light. Everyone's retina is unique, which makes the eye a complex instrument in the human body. There are people who have eye defections, like myopia, a condition in the eye that makes a person only see near them, thus given the nickname "near-sighted." Another condition is hyperopia, which is the exact opposite of myopia, people with hyperopia can only see far away, thus given the nickname "far-sighted." A person who is myopic and a person who is hyperopic would have different grades of glasses because a person who is myopic has a cornea that is too strong, so an optometrist must fix a myopic person with a negative grade. For example, I am myopic, and my grade is -0.75. A person who is hyperopic would have a positive grade on their glasses. Another one is astigmatism, which is cornea aspheric.



I learned that when you cut the sheep eyes, you could see the caratoid layer, which looks black due to the preservatives put inside. I also learned the vitreous found in the eye is really hard because it is an artificial one due to the sheep having cataract.

Desmodus rotundus: Vampire Bat

In this project, I am assigned to research about bats. The full taxonomy of the bat I chose is:

• Domain - Eukarya
• Kingdom - Animalia
• Phylum - Chordata
  
• Subphylum - Vertebrata
• Class - Mammalia
• Order - Chiroptera (bats)
• Family - Phyllostomidae
• Subfamily - Desmodontinae
• Genus - Desmodus
• Species - Desmodus rotundus

This type of bat is called the Vampire Bat. Common vampire bats are limited to warm climates. They can be found in both arid and humid parts of the tropics and subtropics. They occur up to 2400 meters in elevation The distribution is thought to approximate the extent of the 10 degree minimal isotherm for January. The bats usually live in colonies ranging from 20 to 100 individuals although much larger colonies, up to 5,000, have been reported. Vampire bats roost in moderately lighted caves with deep fissures, or cracks, and in tree hollows. Vampire bats can also be found in old wells, mine shafts, and abandoned buildings. Roosts often smell strongly of ammonia because of the blood that has collected in the crevices and on the floors of the roosts. This type of bat is found in tropical and terrestrial habitat. A vampire bat has grayish-brown fur which is lighter on the ventral side. The muzzle is compact and looks swollen, and the ears are pointy. The wing span averages 350-400mm and the head and body length is usually 70-90mm. The common vampire bat has no tail and the membrane between the hind legs, called the uropatagium, is reduced. Females are usually larger than males. The common vampire bat is highly adapted for its specialized feeding behavior. The braincase is large and the rostrum is reduced to accomodate large razor-sharp incisors and canines. There are two lateral grooves in the tongue that expand and contract as the bat feeds. Vampire bats have an acute sense of smell and large eyes.The limbs are also specialized. The thumb of the wing is long and well developed, and the hind legs are strong. A bite from a vampire bat can cause infections and transmit diseases carried by the bat. Infections can spread rapidly and cause death. The vampire bat transmits rabies to both humans and domestic livestock. Losses to the cattle industry in Latin America amount to many millions of dollars every year. Research on the anticoagulant agents in vampire bat saliva may improve medical treatment of some human injuries and diseases. Guano can be harvested and used as a fertilizer. Much of the behavior exhibited by common vampire bats revolves around their methods of obtaining food. Terrestrial movement is a critical part of stalking and attacking prey. Unlike other bat species, Desmodus rotundus can walk, run, and hop quadrupedally along the ground. The weight of the bat is supported by the strong hind limbs and modified thumbs. When faster accelerations are necessary, hopping and jumping are preferred. Quick reflexes and agile movement are important qualities when avoiding the unpredictible responses of large prey such as livestock. Jumping is one of the vampire bat's main avoidance techniques. It has the ability to jump forward, backward, and laterally. These movements provide quick escape routes from kicking hooves, swishing tails, and even other predators such as owls and snakes.

Guest Lecturer: Louise Mead

The guest lecturer from NCSE - National Center for Science Education - talked about evolution and how it is related to natural selection.
Evolution is the continuous change in species.
The evidence for these particular changes are in the following:

1. Biogeography
2. Comparative Anatomy
3. Molecular Biology
4. Fossil Records
5. Developmental Biology

Biogeography is the distribution of plants and animals(and their fossils) around the globe. This is possible because around 195 million years ago - Early Jurassic -, the whole world was all compacted. This means if we were alive at the time with all the technology we created, we would be able to travel around the world on land. All the world back then was connected by some patch of land. Africa was connected to Antarctica and Australia. This is why the continents are shaped in a sort of shape that seems like all the continents see to fit in like pieces in a puzzle.
The organization NCSE are devoted to defend the teachings of evolution in public schools and the guest lecturer told us about the evidence with a nice slideshow of fossil evidence, of natural selection, of the founder of natural selection, and much more. Thus showing us the essence of evolution itself.

Chimpanzee Outsmarts College Students

I found out in a column in sciencenews.org that in a rapid number recollection test, college students were outsmarted by a young chimpanzee named Ayumu. In Kyoto University in Japan, this test was performed. This test involved students and chimps seeing an array of five of the numerals 1 through 9 flash onto a computer screen for just 650 milliseconds. When the numerals simultaneously turned into white squares, the subjects had to touch the squares in numerical order. The students managed to choose the squares in the correct order around 80 percent of the time, as did Ayumu. the researchers performing the test then shortened the viewing time of numerals to 430 milliseconds, then shortened more to 210 millisecond. For these viewing times, the students correctly got around 40 percent of the various sequences, but Ayumu still correctly got nearly 80 percent of the various sequences. Tetsuro Matsuzawa, one of the researchers performing the tests assumed that Ayumu's success comes from something close to the photographic memory in humans.

This article interested me because I didn't know that chimpanzees have that kind of photographic power at their disposal. After reading this article, a sudden respect for chimpanzee came into me when I watched the video provided in the article. When you watch the video, you would be surprised like I had been when I first saw it. I recommend watching the video so that you can see it for yourself.

For more information, click the link i have provided at the bottom:

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20071208/fob2.asp