Flashcards STS Module 2

1. science as an institution

2. constructed science

3. economic of innovation

3 main Sociological Frameworks in Understanding Science

technological push - product - demand pull

economic of innovation

post-normal science

paradigm shift where science should include the public and other sources of data

citizen science

Ordinary citizens contribute to knowledge creation through methodology

Indigenous and local knowledge

Incorporated in knowledge creation

Ex. elders and villagers know the terrain even before satellites

biotechnology

Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific uses

Early intuitive Biotechnology

people knew how it worked with minimal knowledge on the theory of why it worked.

Artificial selection

breeding selected organisms because they have preferred traits

Fermentation

microorganisms break down sugar anaerobically and produce simpler molecules along with CO2, alcohol, and/or organic acids

Variolation

an early form of inoculation used to curb the effects of smallpox

Scientific developments in Biotechnology

major developments in science (and technology) that led to modern-day biotechnology

Microscope

discovery and exploration of a "hidden" microscopic world

Mendelian inheritance

traits can be passed on from parent to offspring in a predictable manner (discovered by Gregor Mendel by studying peas)

DNA

carrier of genetic information and gave an explanation for the Mendelian inheritance

Modern Biotechnology

harnessing the power of biotechnology for innovative solutions

Personalized medicine

personal choices made easy by DNA technology

Cloning

Molecular cloning refers to copying a gene from one organism and inserting it into another organism. This is useful in gene therapy which is used to replace damaged copies of gene

Gene editing

Genetic material can be added, removed, or altered to cure disease, improve well-being, and add desired traits

Artificial selection

breeding living things, takes longer/guess-work

Modern genetic modification

directly changing DNA in a lab, outcome is controlled and targeted

50% soy beans —> animal feed

30% maize —> animal feed and biofuel

13% cotton —> clothes

Major biotech crops

CCER: cotton, corn, eggplant, rice

Approved GM crops in the PH

- unwanted mixing

- terminator seeds

- pesticide use, toxicity and health

3 major issues with GMOs

institutional perspective

the practice of science is controlled and upheld by the scientific community; this institution is spurred forward by its innate values and objectives, which ultimately aims for a better understanding of the physical world and all its works and processes.

social constructivist view of science

looks at scientific practice as influenced more by social factors than it is with institutional norms.

stephen cotgrove

guy that contends that a scientist can continue to uphold scientific ideals within industrial and commercial endeavors, scientific output can no longer be claimed as working towards a common scientific enterprise, more so than it is for competitive advantages in the market

technology push

technological innovation is largely spurred by advances in the scientific realm, and it is with these findings that technologies were developed or improved on.

demand pull

demand pulls innovative power into the hands of the market, particularly towards consumer demand.

push pull mechanism

What may be possible, instead of thinking of TP and DP as contradictory perspectives, is to consider the two as complementary points of view (Chidamber and Kon, 1993).

functionalism

the important unit is the "social system", and the different social aggregates perform a specific function to contribute to the functioning of the social system

social conflict theory

It is also possible that social groups work according to their own self-interests, and would prioritize this over the common goal of the social system. Cooperation would exist where expedient, but conflict can arise as well due to clashes in motives and objectives

life expectancy

This is defined as the number of years a person is expected to live based on population statistics of age-specific death rates.

Life Expectancy at birth

which is the number of years one is expected to live if one was born at a certain time and if the same conditions prevailed throughout one's life.

evolution

Theory for why life expectancy has increased over time

As humans were subjected to environmental challenges, natural selection allowed humans with genes that were better suited for survival to stay alive and reproduce. Thus, the next generations were progressively healthier and lived longer.

somatic investment

Where the body allocated more resources towards enhanced immunity as they faced new environmental challenges

Extrinsic mortality risk

Why life expectancy fell during the Neolithic age

Risk of dying due to environmental challenges

Due to infectious diseases because we started to live together

Positive selection

certain traits persist and increase within a population over many generations because the trait confers a survival advantage to those who possess it.

2015: diseases of heart and cancer/neoplasms

1900: pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases

causes of death

vaccination

a medical intervention where the body is exposed to weakened or killed pathogens, and by this, immunity is stimulated without causing the illness itself.

smallpox

first disease to be treated by vaccination.

Variola

from the Latin word "varius," which means stained

Imbalance of the four humors that made up the body, but that is disproven

Miasma theory of Galen: illness is caused by bad vapors

first several theories as to what causes disease

Louis Pasteur

He showed that it was actually microbes that turned glucose to alcohol and lactic acid in the process of fermentation. Pasteur also demonstrated that bacteria called Streptococci caused puerperal or childbirth fever

Robert Koch

he figured out the life cycle of Bacillus anthracis, the cause of anthrax. He also developed different techniques for growing bacteria in plates using agar, a technique used up to this day. His crowning glory, however, was being the first to visualize Mycobacterium tuberculosis and confirming it as the cause of what was then known as "Consumption," one of the biggest killers of the world

Koch's postulates

postulates that Bodies harbor millions of different bacterias

Can establish which among these bacteria actually causes illness

first, that bacterium must be isolated from the dead organism.

Second, the bacterium must be grown in pure culture (it is the only bacteria growing on a culture plate).

Third, when injected into an experimental animal, this animal should develop the same symptoms -- a high fever with pustules.

Fourth, the same bacterium must be isolated from this animal when it dies. Then and only then can we consider the bacteria to have caused the death of this animal.

Koch's 4 postulates

Paul Ehrlich

credited with the discovery of Salvarsan, the first drug to effectively treat syphilis

Gerhard Domagk

Noticed soldiers dying of infection in the war

founded Prontosil, the first sulfa drug—first safe and effective antibiotic

Alexander Fleming

developed penicillin from prontosil

cancer

is a mass of cells that grow abnormally and in an uncontrolled manner. Normal cells also grow and divide. However, normal cells grow in an orderly and controlled fashion. They stop growing when signals from the body tell them to stop. Cancer cells, on the other hand, do not stop dividing at all.

High blood pressure

Tobacco use

High blood glucose

Physical inactivity

Overweight and obesity

Five leading risks for mortality according to WHO

eating patterns

as Delormier, Frohlich, and Potvin point out, "are understood to reflect systems of meaning constructed by people"

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA):

A double-helical nucleic acid polymer that functions as the primary genetic material storing inherited biological instructions.

Nucleotide

The structural subunit of DNA composed of a phosphate group, a 5-carbon deoxyribose sugar, and a nitrogenous base.

adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T), and guanine (G) pairs with cytosine (C).

complementary base pairing

gene expression

The process where genetic instructions in DNA are transcribed into single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) and subsequently translated into functional proteins.

codon

A triplet sequence of nucleic acid bases that specifies one of 20 distinct amino acids during protein synthesis.

recombinant dna technology

: A molecular method developed by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer that cuts DNA from a donor organism and splices it into a vector to transform recipient cells with foreign genetic material.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) / Transgenic

An organism whose genetic material has been altered through recombinant DNA techniques, often carrying genes transferred from another species.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

A cell-free, in vitro technique invented by Kary Mullis that exponentially amplifies specific target DNA fragments from minute biological samples.

Human Genome Project (HGP)

An international collaborative initiative (1990-2003) that sequenced the 3 billion base pairs of human DNA and identified approximately 20,500 genes.

Genomics

The field of study dedicated to characterizing, quantifying, and analyzing whole genomes.

Transcriptomics

The study of messenger RNA collections (transcriptomes) to identify actively expressed genes within a cell.

Proteomics

The study of proteomes aimed at characterizing protein structures, interactions, and functional roles.

Epigenomics

The study of chemical modifications on chromosomes that regulate gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence.

Metabolomics

The examination of cellular metabolites to assess the functional end products of biological pathways.

Bioinformatics

An interdisciplinary field integrating computer science, mathematics, and biology to analyze and model large biological datasets.

Personalized (Precision) Medicine

A medical paradigm that uses individual genetic markers and polymorphisms to customize treatments and disease prevention strategies.

CRISPR-Cas9

An efficient gene-editing system derived from bacterial viral defense mechanisms that allows targeted cutting, correction, or insertion of specific genomic sequences.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

A cloning technique where the nucleus of an unfertilized egg is replaced with a nucleus from an adult somatic body cell to generate a genetically identical clone.

Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells

Undifferentiated pluripotent cells harvested from early embryos capable of developing into any body cell type.

Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells

Adult somatic cells genetically reprogrammed back into a pluripotent embryonic-like state.

Bt-Corn

A genetically modified crop engineered with the Cry1A toxin gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis to render the plant resistant to target insect pests.

Stacked Traits

Biotech crops engineered to express two or more introduced traits, such as combining insect resistance with herbicide tolerance.

replication of DNA > transcription to RNA > translation to protein

process of central dogma of biology that turns dna into protein