#bensteen

This semester in my Biotech 113 class, we learned of just how terrible drug-resistant viruses/bacteria’s are. Many scientists believe that it will be one of these drug-resistant viruses that kills off the human race, and every time another resistant virus surfaces, we make sure it is known. Malaria in the past was one of the most deadly viruses, and should a drug-resistant version of it spread, the human race may not survive it. However, with biotechnology and science, the human race may be able to stay one step ahead of these possible life ending viruses. 

Back home in Loudoun County, one of my moms best friends was just diagnosed with MS, and is doing everything that she can to better her life while dealing with it. She is an extremely healthy person, however that means little to MS, as it is one of the most crippling and debilitating diseases out there. The fact that stem cells are proving to cure so many different terrible diseases, it is a shame to see how held back the subject is. People are so held up on the ethics of stem cells, they don’t look past that and see just how much of a benefit they may have. 

Having a mom who suffered through chemotherapy, it is relieving to see that science is making progress to healing the brain after such intense “treatments”. I know that the treatments did damage to my mother, and i saw it every day for a while after her treatment. If stem cells can repair the brain, steps should be taken to further this research and implementation. While my mother suffered through this damage, others may benefit and have a better life for it. 

Having a mom who went through leukemia, i know first hand just how devastating the illness is. This sort of breakthrough would have made my moms recovery much less painful, and her standard of living after the illness and treatment would be so much better. It saddens me knowing that people have been treated already by treatments we will see as “barbaraic” in the future. Breakthroughs like these are some of the most important for the well being of the human race, and i personally think the medical field should explore options like these more.

This discovery is one of the most amazing things in biology to date. Seeing an organism incorporate anothers genes into its own to help it live is an unheard of thing in nature. The applications of this genetic mutation/allocation would be interesting. Maybe in the future humans could utilize this sort of genetic allocation, however photosynthesizing humans is quite the longshot.

We discussed this discovery in my Biotech 113 class this semester, and i think it is hilarious how they found this new antibiotic. It should have been apparent that growing new bacteria in soil would produce larger amounts of bacteria. However, the discovery itself is still a game changer in the medical field. The possibility of having another antibiotic to turn to is an amazing thing, especially in this day and age where antibiotic abuse is so high, causing larger amounts of resistant bacteria.

The inner sci fi nerd in me is screaming after reading this article. Possible life on an ice moon in the ocean would be a game changer for the study of alien life. These conditions are much like earths, however the intense environment would create some truly special organisms. Life on this moon could be extremely cool, and extremely terrifying, and my inner sci fi nerd is happy about that! More research should be done, and i personally think we should send space probes and drones to the moon to further the research.

This may be old news, however this discovery is still one of the coolest of the year. The fact that there is water on mars is a game changer, showing that maybe there was life on the rock prior to its demise. It would be astonishing to find more than just evidence of water, maybe even microscopic fossils. If the water housed such organisms, Mars would be proving that the specific needs for life to occur are not so specific after all.