NS 1300 Emergence of Modern Science

Biotechnology

Genetic Engineering

• Restriction Enzymes

• Plasmids

• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)

Polymerase Chain Reaction

• PCR

– PCR Multiplication

– DNA Fingerprinting

Cloning

• Stem Cells

• Reproductive Cloning

• Therapeutic Cloning

Cancer

• Genetics

• Environment

• StagesIn stage I, cancer cells can be distinguished from normal cells. The cancer cells are still localized (usually referred to as cancer in situ) and surgical removal of the tumor usually results in a cure. In stage II, tumor size is increased. The cancer cells may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes, and begun encroaching on nearby tissue. By stage III, the cancer cells have continued to grow and extend into the area around the tumor. In stage IV, tumors have spread to other parts of the body.

Gene Therapy

• Clinical TrialsOpen trialIn an open trial, the researcher knows the full details of the treatment, and so does the patient. These trials are open to challenge for bias, and they do nothing to reduce the placebo effect. However, sometimes they are unavoidable, particularly in relation to surgical techniques, where it may not be possible or ethical to hide from the patient which treatment he or she received. Usually this kind of study design is used in bioequivalence studies.

Blind trials

Single-blind trialIn a single-blind trial, the researcher knows the details of the treatment but the patient does not. Because the patient does not know which treatment is being administered (the new treatment or another treatment) there might be no placebo effect. In practice, since the researcher knows, it is possible for them to treat the patient differently or to subconsciously hint to the patient important treatment-related details, thus influencing the outcome of the study.

Double-blind trialIn a double-blind trial, one researcher allocates a series of numbers to 'new treatment' or 'old treatment'. The second researcher is told the numbers, but not what they have been allocated to. Since the second researcher does not know, they cannot possibly tell the patient, directly or otherwise, and cannot give in to patient pressure to give them the new treatment. In this system, there is also often a more realistic distribution of sexes and ages of patients. Therefore double-blind (or randomized) trials are preferred, as they tend to give the most accurate results.

Triple-blind trialSome randomized controlled trials are considered triple-blinded, although the meaning of this may vary according to the exact study design. The most common meaning is that the subject, researcher and person administering the treatment (often a pharmacist) are blinded to what is being given. Alternately, it may mean that the patient, researcher and statistician are blinded. These additional precautions are often in place with the more commonly accepted term "double blind trials", and thus the term "triple-blinded" is infrequently used. However, it connotes an additional layer of security to prevent undue influence of study results by anyone directly involved with the study.

DNA Repair

• Oxidants

• Point mutations

• Patrolling enzymes

Drug Therapy

• Drug Design

• Biodiversity

– A large number of medicines have their origin in plants or microorganisms. Quinine and penicillin arc two such examples which arc used extensively against some of the most dreadly diseases. With the advent of biotechnology, in future genes from many species will be utilized for a variety of purposes. But if the biodiversity is lost, these future possibilities will disappear.

Bioethics

Artificial inseminationArtificial life Body modification ChimerasCloningConfidentiality (medical records) Gene therapy Genetically modified food GenomicsGreat Ape Project Human cloningHuman genetic engineeringImmortality

Infertility (treatments)

Nanomedicine Parthenogenesis Patients' Bill of Rights Population controlProcreative beneficence Procreative libertyReproductive rights Sperm and eggs (donation) Stem cell research Transhumanism

Mitochondrial DNA

• Mitochondrial Clock

Quiz• 1. T or F, PCR stands for polymerase chain reaction.

• 2. T or F, a plasmid is one of your 46 chromosomes.

• 3. T or F, the need to find natural cures is one reason to

protect biodiversity.

• 4. T or F, in stage I cancer, tumors have spread to other

parts of the body.

• 5. T or F, mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the

mother.