Chapter 2: Applications of Biology

Vocabulary

BiometricsGeneticsBiomeGenomeEpidemiologyVaccinationGenetic engineeringEcologyEnvironmental scienceUse the table to define

as many words as you can.

Part Type Meaning

bio- Prefix Life

metric Root measurement

-ic Suffix Having to do with

-ome Suffix All parts of something

gen Root Born; to become; to produce

Health in the 21st century

What is cholera and how is it caused? What is the relationship between copepods

and cholera and why is it important?

Cholera and how stuff works with Steven Johnson (11:00)

Copepods and the ch0lera bacterium have a symbiotic relationship where the cholera cluster around the mouthparts and egg casings of the female copepod. The bacteria help burst the copepods’ egg casings and release the copepod eggs. The bacteria then feed on the egg casings. Copepods feed on plankton so when the number of plankton increases, so do the numbers of copepods and subsequently the number of cholera bacteria also increase which could cause a cholera outbreak.

How did Colwell develop a better method for detecting cholera in water that had previously tested negative for the bacteria?

She developed a more sensitive test that relied on the chemical properties of the bacteria’s cell wall.

Why were the bacteria not detected before?Because the cholera bacteria can exist in a

dormant state in cold water, only to become active when the temperature rises.

How does the cholera example show that science is an integrated field of study?

Colwell used biochemistry, to detect the cholera bacterium even when they were dormant as well as satellite imagery to study the characteristics of ocean water to predict outbreaks. Her work is an example of epidemiology which is the study of how diseases spread.

Vaccinations

Explain where vaccines come from and how they work to fight disease.

Vaccines come from a dead or weakened pathogen that is introduced to the body. The body’s immune system “learns” to fight the pathogen.

Viruses and nanotechnology (9:00)

Why do people study genetics?

To study and treat diseases caused by abnormalities in a person’s genes.

What is the Human Genome Project?

It is a project that identified all of the 20,000-25,000 genes found in a human’s DNA.

What is a genome? It’s the complete set of

genetic information for an organism.

Biology and Human Potential

List at least three assistive technologies.

Bionic limbs, computer interfaces for hearing or speech, performing surgery from a remote site via computer technology.

What is genetic engineering? Technology where the genetic

material in a living cell is changed.

How is genetic engineering used? Create higher yields in crops.

What’s so special about Bt corn? It has a bacterium that makes it

resistant to the European corn borer.

Diabetes is a disease that is regulated by insulin. How has the production of insulin changed in recent years?

Before it was produced from pigs and cows, now it is made from bacteria that are changed so they contain the human gene that produces insulin.

What does nano stand for and what does it tell you about the size of the robots used in nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology (3:08)

Forensic Science

What is biomimetics? The application of biological

processes and systems to solve design and engineering problems. For instance, velcro was was fashioned after prickly burrs and submarines were modeled after the swimbladder of bony fishes.

What’s the difference between fingerprinting and DNA fingerprinting?

Which do you think is the more accurate and why?

What are some ethical concerns faced by society that relate to genetically modified organisms?

How do you feel about the possibility of information about you used improperly?

Advances in biotechnology have resulted in all of the following, except

A. Development of synthetic hormones

B. Development of iris scanning to establish identity.

C. Cloning of animalsD. Cloning of humans

Explain the difference between ecology and environmental science.

What is the difference between biometrics and biomimetics?

Biometrics is the statistical analysis of biological data. An example is studying the physical or behavioral characteristics to identify an individual.

Biomimetics is applying biological attributes to technology. How are airplanes and birds linked with regard to biomimetics? Velcro