GESCIE+: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | LECTURE

MODULE 3 | CHAPTER 10: GLOBAL ISSUE: CLIMATE CHANGE

2nd SEMESTER | S.Y. 2021-2022 TRANSCRIBED BY: ILAGAN
LECTURER: MRS. VIRSELY NAVARRO

CLIMATE CHANGE VS. GLOBAL THE NATURAL GREENHOUSE GASES

WARMING AND THEIR SOURCES
➢ Climate Change ➢ Water (in the form of vapor) – from all the
• Refers to the change in the state of bodies of water, plants (via transpiration),
the climate that can be identified and animals (via perspiration and direct
(e.g. using statistical tests) by evaporation)
changes in the mean and/or the ➢ Carbon Dioxide – natural decay of organic
variability of its properties, and the matter, bodies of water, natural disasters
persists for an extended period, (volcanic eruptions, forest fires)
typically decades or longer (IPCC, ➢ Methane – evaporation form wetlands and
2013) oceans
• Much broader in Scope ➢ Nitrous Oxide – oceanic and soil
• Is a broader term that refers long- evaporation
term changes in climate, including ➢ Ozone – from the reconstitution of broken
average temperature and down molecular in the atmosphere.
precipitation. ➢ Chlorofluorocarbons – waste gas from
➢ Global Warming refrigerators, aerosols and air conditioning
• The overall increase in earth’s units.
temperature due to heat-trapping ➢ Methane – byproduct of the decay of
gases (AAA Global Climate Change agricultural, industrial and suburban waste.
Task Force, 2014) ➢ Nitrous Oxide – released from tilling of
➢ The shift in climate in the last 50 years of agricultural soil and burning of fossil fuels.
mankind’s existence
➢ The build-up of greenhouse gases causes
heat from the sun to accumulate in the
atmosphere, causing an increase in surface
temperature (Global Warming)
➢ This increase, then, leads to a progressive
shift in climate that disrupts the natural
order, causing more violent weather
patterns and erratic seasonal turnover
cycles (Climate Change)
➢ A layer of greenhouse gases- primarily
water vapor, and including much smaller
amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and
nitrous oxide – acts as a thermal blanket for
the Earth, absorbing heat and warming the
surface to a life-supporting average of 59
degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius)

1
TEN EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS
DEFINED BY THE IPCC
CHANGE IN SEA LEVEL
➢ Sea level rise is caused primarily by two
factors related to global warming:
• The added water from melting ice
sheets
• The expansion of seawater as it
warms
➢ Arctic sea ice minimum – the day in a
given year when Arctic ice sea reaches its
smallest extent.
➢ September Arctic Sea ice is now declining
at a rate of 13.2 percent per decade, relative
to the 1981 to 2010 average.
➢ Satellite data reveal how the new record
low Arctic Sea ice extent, from Sept. 16,
2012, compared to the average minimum
extent over the past 30 years.
CARBON DIOXIDE
➢ Carbon dioxide is a very good heat-
trapping molecule.
➢ From 2005 up to present, there is an
increasing trend in the concentration of
atmosphere CO2
CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
➢ Studies show that natural contributors to
climate change have little participation in
the current climate warming trends
• Volcanic emissions
• Changes in the reflectivity of the
Earth’s surface
• Ocean currents
• Variations in sun’s energy reaching
earth
• Impacts by large meteors
• Human activities (There is more
than 95 percent probability that
warming of the planet over the past
50 years s largely related to human
activities. – Climate Change 2014:
Synthesis Report, IPCC)
▪ Deforestation
▪ Increasing industrial activity
▪ Waste management
practices
▪ Intensive use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
▪ Vehicle emission.
WHAT’S DRIVING CLIMATE CHANGE?
➢ Four of the most important drivers of
climate change:
• Consumption
• Land Use
• Energy
• Population
IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
➢ In the Philippines, there are already trends
of increasing number of hot days and warm
nights but decreasing number of cold days
and cool nights. Both maximum and
minimum temperatures are generally
getting warmer.
➢ Increased number and intensity of
typhoons
➢ Agriculture and food security
• Added heat stress, shifting
monsoons, drier soils and water
shortages as a result of higher
temperatures will affect livestock
and crop production patterns with
expanded range of weeds, insects
and disease which may reduce
global food supplies and contribute
to higher food prices.
➢ Health
• Increase in health problems and
deaths due to greater frequency
and severity of heat waves and
other extreme weather events.
2
 • Will largely affect those suffering
from respiratory and cardiovascular
disorders as they have lesser coping
capacity.
• Potential impacts on health due to
sea level rise
▪ Death and injury due to the
flooding
▪ Reduced availability of
freshwater due to saltwater
intrusion.
➢ Forests and Wildlife
• Species migration; shift in feeding
point and disruption in flight
patterns for migratory birds.
INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS IN THE ARMS
• Extinction of some plants and
animals.
• Portage Glacier
• Melting Ice Caps
ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE:
MITIGATION
➢ Mitigation refers to an anthropogenic
intervention to reduce the sources or
enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases
(IPCC, 2001)
• Reducing fossil fuel use
• Promoting the use of renewable
energy resources like geothermal
energy, wind, and solar energy
• Reducing deforestation
• Using more sustainable agriculture
and forestry
• Putting a price on greenhouse gas
emissions
• Slowing population growth
• Focusing research and
development on innovations that
lower the cost of clean energy
alternatives
➢ Adaptation refers to an adjustment in
natural or human systems in response to
actual or expected climatic stimuli or their
effects, which moderates harm or exploits
beneficial opportunities (IPCC, 2001)
• Using scarce water resources more
efficiently
• Developing drought – tolerant
crops
• Choosing tree species and forestry
practices that are less vulnerable to
storms and fires
• Community – based disaster risk
reduction
• Seasonal climate forecasting
• Rainwater harvesting
• Capacity building for shoreline
defense system design.
➢ Man has not yet woven the web of life he is
merely a part of it whatever he does to the
web he does it to himself! – Chief Seattle
RACE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
➢ Kyoto Protocol of 1997
• Formed by the 19th UN Conference
of Parties in December 11, 1997 in
Kyoto, Japan.
• Agreement that all signing nations
must reduce their carbon emissions
by 5.2%
• What happened after?
▪ Agreement did not come to
fruition until February 2005,
when it was finally ratified
by 55 countries.
➢ The Paris Agreement of 2016
• Attended by 55 parties in 21st
conference of Parties convened by
UNFCCC October 4, 2016
• Currently ratified by 144 signing
parties
• Goal: Amendment to the Kyoto
Protocol of 1997
• Agreement that greenhouse gas
emissions would just be enough to
limit temperature rise to below the
threshold of 1.5 Celsius
WHAT CAN WE REALLY DO?
➢ Drive less
➢ Replace all the light bulbs
➢ Choose energy – efficient appliances
➢ Decrease your air travel
3
➢ Cut down on your garbage
➢ Unplug electronics when they are not in use
➢ Plant a tree
➢ Buy recycled paper products and recycle as
much of your waste as possible and use
paper bags when shopping.
➢ Use nontoxic cleaning products
➢ Keep your car tune up, and check tire
pressure often to save gas
➢ Spread the word.

4
 GESCIE+: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | LECTURE
MODULE 3 | CHAPTER 11: BIODIVERSITY AND HUMAN HEALTH

2nd SEMESTER | S.Y. 2021-2022

LECTURER: MRS. VIRSELY NAVARRO

INTRODUCTION ➢ There is growing concern about the health

➢ Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms: consequences of biodiversity loss and
the different plants, animals and micro- change.
organisms, their genes, and the ecosystems ➢ Direct drivers of biodiversity loss include
of which they are a part. land-use change, habitat loss,
➢ Term Biological diversity – Raymond F. overexploitation, pollution, and climate
Dasmann in 1968. change.
➢ Biodiversity – W.G. Rosen in 1985 ➢ Many of these drivers affect human health
➢ Biodiversity underpins life on Earth, and directly and through their impacts on
refers to the variety found in biota from biodiversity.
genetic make up of plants and animals to WORLD SCENARIO OF BIODIVERSITY
cultural diversity (WHO)
➢ Approximately 1.9 million species have
➢ Biological diversity (biodiversity) is the
been identified.
“variability among living organisms from al
➢ Many scientists have estimated the total
sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,
number of species on Earth to be around
marine and other aquatic ecosystems and
15 million.
the ecological complexes of which they are
➢ The rate of extinction has been estimated
part; this includes diversity within species,
at one species per million species each
between species and of ecosystems (CBD)
year, so that for 15 million species, 25
➢ Types of Biodiversity
extinctions would occur each year.
• Genetic diversity – each member
➢ Human activity has accelerated this natural
of any animal or plant species
extinction rate many folds, so that for some
differs widely from other individuals
groups of organisms the rate is 100 times
in its genetic makeup.
baseline levels, and for others, it is 1000
• Species diversity – the number of
times and even more.
species of plants and animals that
➢ Scientists say we have now entered “the
are present in a region constitutes
sixth great extinction event”, the fifth
its species diversity.
having occurred sixty-five million years
• Ecosystem diversity – large variety
ago, when dinosaurs and many other
of different ecosystems on earth,
organisms were extinct.
which have their own complement
➢ According to IUCN, the World Conservation
of distinctive inter linked species
Union, the monetary value of goods and
based on the differences in the
services provided by ecosystems is
habitat. E.g., forest, desert, etc.
estimated to amount to US$33 trillion per
➢ Human health ultimately depends upon
year.
ecosystem products and services (such as
➢ About 100 million metric tons of aquatic
availability of fresh water, food and fuel
life, including fish, mollusks, and
sources) which are requisite for good
crustaceans are taken from the wild every
human health and productive livelihoods.
year.

5
 INDIAN SCENARIO
BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTH
➢ Determinants of health and biodiversity
• The social, economic and
behavioral aspects of the human
condition interact with the
environment, including critical
elements of biodiversity and
ecosystem services.
• Biodiversity and its changes (losses
and gains) are, to a great extent, the
result of anthropogenic influences.
• Environmental determinants of
health (such as air quality, food
security, water security, etc.) are
interrelated and adversely affected
by the reduced ability of degraded
ecosystems and biota to adapt to
the impacts of climate change, air
pollution, natural disasters or water
scarcity.
• Different socioeconomic groups will
have different experiences of
material conditions, psychosocial
support and behavioral options,
which make them more or less
vulnerable to poor health.
• Detrimental changes to biodiversity
and the resulting risks and burden
of human health problems are
inequitable distributed in specific
social-ecological settings.
• Developing countries are more
reliant on biodiversity and
ecosystem services than developed
ones, and their health systems are
usually less prepared to protect the
health of their populations, which
leads to greater negative health
impacts of biodiversity change.
• E.g., over 1 billion people, mainly in
developing countries, rely on
fisheries as their primary source of
animal protein.
➢ Freshwater, biodiversity, and human
health
• The immense demand for water
posed by modern industry,
agriculture, forestry, mining, energy
generation, and human
consumption combine to
exacerbate pressures on water
quality and quantity.
• Impaired water quality results in
significant social and economic
costs, and ecosystem degradation is
a major cause of decline in water
quality.
• The input of nutrients most
commonly associated with
eutrophication – phosphorus (e.g.,
in detergents) and nitrogen (e.g.,
agricultural runoff) into lakes,
reservoirs, rivers and coastal marine
ecosystems, including coral reefs,
have been widely recognized as a
major threat to both water
ecosystems and human health.
• Water pollution from fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides remains a
serious problem.
• Unsafe water can lead to a number
of waterborne diseases.
➢ Bioaccumulation: the impact of mining
• Many mining activities discharge
mercury (Hg) and methyl Hg in
aquatic ecosystems thereby
contaminating water.
6
 • It can reach human populations
through fish consumption.
• Methyl Hg is neurotoxic and
prenatal exposure can affect brain
development, even at low doses at
exposure.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
➢ Biodiversity, air quality, and human
health
• Air pollution is a significant problem
in cities across the world.
• Health effects related to air
pollution include its impact on the
pulmonary and cardiovascular
systems.
• Trees affect air quality through a
number of means and can be used
to improve air quality.
• Bioindicators can be useful for
monitoring air quality and
indicating environmental health.
• Bioindicators, especially lichens and
bryophytes, are widely used for
monitoring air quality.
➢ Food security
• The world’s population has
increased from roughly 2.5 billion
people in 1950 to more than 7
billion today and is anticipated to
exceed 9 billion 2050.
• An adequate supply of safe and
nutritious food is one of the
cornerstones of human health.
• The increase in food production
achieved over the past decades has
been accompanied by significant
losses in agricultural biodiversity.
• The Declaration of the World
Summit on Food Security (FAO
2009) addresses the issue of
investments in agriculture
highlighting those efforts should
focus more on sustainability/
➢ Nutritional impact
• Healthy local diets, with adequate
average levels of nutrients intake,
necessities maintenance of high
biodiversity levels.
• Nutritional composition between
foods and among varieties of the
same food can differ dramatically,
affecting micronutrient availability
in diet.
• Globalization, poverty, modern
agricultural practices, and changes
in dietary patterns have led to a
“nutrition transition”.
• The nutrition transition is the
process by which development,
globalization, poverty and
subsequent changes in lifestyle
have led to excessive dietary energy
intakes, poor quality diets, and low
physical activity.
• Increased use of fertilizers and
pesticides has a hazardous effect on
human health.
• It also leads to loss of biodiversity.
Adversely effects plant and animal
species.
• Sustainable Diets are those diets
with low environmental impacts,
which contribute to food and
nutrition security and to a healthy
life for present and future
generations.
➢ Infectious diseases
• Human-caused global changes,
such as deforestation, extractive
industries including logging and
mining and urban development, are
driving infectious disease
emergence and spread.
• E.g., deforestation has led to a
proliferation of Anopheles darlingi,
a mosquito species that is highly
effective transmitting malaria. It has
replaced some twenty other less
effective Anopheles species that
were present before the forests
were cut down.
7
 • For instance, hantavirus prevalence
is thought to increase when
mammal diversity decreases.
• Prevalence of Bartonella increases
when large wildlife is removed; and
habitat fragmentation increases risk
of Lyme disease.
• Changes in biodiversity increase the
risk of cross-species transmission of
pathogens, which can result in
zoonotic disease.
➢ Non communicable disease
• Large increases in the incidences of
chronic inflammatory disorders
such as allergies, autoimmune
diseases and inflammatory bowel
diseases.
• Hygiene hypothesis being replaced
by Biodiversity hypothesis (von
Hertzen et. al.,) or the Old Friends
mechanism (ROOK et. al.,)
• Changing patterns of microbial
exposure, in concert with changing
diets, are contributing to
diminished immunoregulation, and
to increased incidences of
immunoregulatory disorders.
• The Old infections are rapidly and
progressively eliminated by modern
medicine and lifestyles.
• The biodiversity of the microbiotas
is restricted by the modern lifestyle.
• Reduced gut microbial biodiversity
is often found to associate with
poor control of inflammation.
• Gut microbiota of limited diversity
is also characteristic of human
inflammation-associated
conditions such as inflammatory
bowel disease.
➢ Health research and traditional medicine
• Traditional medicines are estimated
to be used by 60% of the world’s
population and in some countries
are extensively incorporated into
public health system.
•Medicinal plants are supplied
through collection from wild
populations and cultivation.
• The global need and demand for
natural products persists for use as
medicinal products.
• Biomedical research relies on
plants, animals and microbes to
understand human physiology and
to understand and treat human
diseases.
➢ Mental Health
• Contact with nature may not only
be associated with positive mental
health benefits but can also
promote physical activity and
contribute to overall well-being.
• Contribution of biodiversity to the
provision and sustenance of a range
of cultural ecosystem services such
as spiritual values and social
relations.
• Little is known about the types of
environments that can best support
physical activity in the population or
what types of environments
alleviate – or aggravate – psychotic
symptoms.
• Green spaces in urban settings are
linked to stress reduction, reduction
in crime and violence and a range of
other health benefits.
➢ Climate change
• Climate change and biodiversity
loss are interconnected.
• Direct impact – increase in the
number of heat waves, droughts,
floods, cyclones, and wildfires.
• Indirect impact – broad and
variable in their etiology, such as
change in infectious disease vector
distribution and air pollution
interacting with heat waves.
• Tertiary effects – health impacts of
large-scale famine, forced
migration and human conflict,
which result from the geophysical
8
 and ecological consequences of
climate change.
• Climate change alone is anticipated
to threaten with extinction
approximately one quarter or more
of all species on land by the year
2050.
➢ Disaster risk reduction
• Urban expansion and infrastructure
development, increasing
population pressures,
unsustainable agricultural
intensification and climate change,
can be significant drivers of
biodiversity loss and ill-health.
• Biodiversity – particularly its role in
underpinning ecosystems services-
can play a crucial role in disaster risk
management.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
➢ Why conserve biodiversity?
• Consumptive use value
• Productive us value
• Social value
• Moral and ethical value
• Aesthetic value
• Option value
➢ Types of Conservation
• In situ conservation – biodiversity
can be best preserved in situ by
setting aside an adequate
representation of wilderness as
“Protected Areas”. These should
consist of a network of National
Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• Ex situ conservation – outside its
natural habitat in a carefully
controlled situation such as
botanical garden for plants or a
zoological park for animals.
➢ 1972 – UNEP (United Nations Environment
Program) started
➢ 1992 – United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
- Convention on climate change
and Convention on Biological
Diversity started.
➢ Convention on Biological Diversity, 3
main goals
• The conservation of biodiversity
• Sustainable use of the components
of biodiversity
• Sharing the benefits arising from
the commercial and other
utilization of genetic resources in a
fair and equitable way.
➢ The Cartagena Protocol
• The Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety to the Convention on
Biological Diversity
• International treaty governing the
movements of living modified
organisms (LMOs) resulting from
modern biotechnology from one
country to another.
• Adopted on 29 January 2000 as a
supplementary agreement to the
Convention on Biological
Biodiversity and entered into force
on 11 September 2003.
➢ The Nagoya Protocol
• The Nagoya Protocol on Access and
Benefit-sharing
• International agreement which aims
at sharing the benefits arising from
the utilization of genetic resources
in a fair ad equitable way.
• Entered into force on 12 October
2014.
➢ Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-
2020
• Revised and updated Strategic Plan
for Biodiversity, including the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets, for the 2011-
2020 period.
• Started on 29 October 2010.
▪ At least halve and, where
feasible, bring close to zero
the rate of loss of natural
habitats, including forests.
9
 ▪ Establish a conservation health and the health of other species or
target at 17% of terrestrial ecosystems.
and inland water areas and ➢ Full economic evaluation of human
10% of marine and coastal management of resources, energy
areas. strategies and potential development
▪ Restore at least 15% of pathways should be based on sound
degraded areas through planning and development policies.
conservation and ➢ Responses that mitigate the impacts of
restoration activities. ecosystem changes on human health often
▪ Make special efforts to involve policies and actions outside the
reduce the pressures faced health sector.
by coral reefs. ➢ Quantifying impacts of biodiversity loss on
quality of life requires careful assessment
CHALLENGES
where outcomes from interventions that
➢ As global population rises towards nine change biodiversity cannot be readily
billion in 2050, trade-offs between human anticipated.
well-being and competing uses of ➢ Management of biodiversity to benefit
resources and physical space for food human health and well being require
supply and energy production will make it specific policies at appropriate levels (e.g.,
more difficult o maintain functioning levels regional, national, sub-national) that
of biodiversity. address health needs and criteria for good
➢ Much of future global population growth quality of life of the particular cultures that
will occur in areas where human health is at are affected.
greatest risk because of poverty and
natural resource scarcity.
➢ Climate change adds uncertainty, it
becomes more difficult to predict which
biotic resources and ecosystem functions
may be needed for human adaptation to
projected food supply disruptions and
ecosystem alterations.
➢ Conflicts can arise between short-term
benefits versus long term costs.
➢ While there are multiple benefits of
biodiversity, biodiversity can also pose a
risk to human health and quality of life. For
example, in the case of HIV and SARS, there
is evidence pointing to the shift of these
diseases from animal populations to
human beings sparked by increased
hunting and consumption of bush meat.

WAY FORWARD
➢ The EcoHealth, One Health and “one
medicine” approaches are part of a family
of approaches that aim to bridge human

10
 GESCIE+: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | LECTURE
MODULE 3 | CHAPTER 16: NANOTECHNOLOGY

2nd SEMESTER | S.Y. 2021-2022

LECTURER: MRS. VIRSELY NAVARRO

INTRODUCTION
➢ A Nanometre is a unit of length in the
metric system, equal to one billionth of a
metre (10-9)
➢ Technology is the making, usage, and
knowledge of tools, machines and
techniques, in order to solve a problem or
perform a specific function.
➢ Nanotechnology is the study of
manipulating matter on an atomic scale.
➢ Nanotechnology refers to the
constructing and engineering of the
functional systems at very micro level or we
can say at atomic level.
➢ A Nanometer is one billionth of a meter,
roughly the width of three or four atoms.
The average human hair is about 25,000
nanometers wide.

HISTORY
➢ The first ever concept was presented in
1959 by the famous professor of physics
Dr. Richard P. Feynman. TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY
➢ Invention of the scanning tunneling
➢ There are several important modern
microscope in 1981 and the discovery of
developments.
fullerene (C60) in 1985 lead to the
• The atomic force microscope
mergence of nanotechnology.
(AFM).
➢ The term “Nano-technology” had been
• The Scanning Tunnelling
coined by Norio Taniguchi in 1974.
Microscope (STM) are scanning
➢ The early 2000’s also saw the beginnings of
probes that launched
commercial applications of
nanotechnology.
nanotechnology, although these were
➢ Various techniques of nanolithography
limited to bulk application of
such as:
nanomaterials.
• Optical lithography
➢ Silver nano platform for using silver-
• X-ray lithography
nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent,
• Dip pen nanolithography
nanoparticle-based transparent
• Electron beam lithography (inkjet
sunscreens, and carbon nanotubes for
printer) were also developed.
stain-resistant textiles.
➢ Lithography in MEMS context is typically
the transfer of a pattern into a
11
 photosensitive material by selective
exposure to a radiation source such as light.
➢ Carbon Nanotube
• Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of
carbon with a cylindrical
nanostructure.
• They have length-to-diameter ratio
of up to 132,000,000:1
• Nanotubes are members of the
fullerene structural family. Their
name is derived from their long,
hollow structure with the walls
formed by one-atom-thick sheets
of carbon, called graphene.
• Properties
▪ Highest strength to weight
ratio, helps in creating light
weight spacecrafts.
▪ Easily penetrate membranes
such as cell walls. Helps in
cancer treatment.
▪ Electrical resistance
changes significantly when
other molecules attach
themselves to the carbon
atoms. Helps in developing
sensors that can detect
chemical vapors.
• Applications
▪ Easton-Bell Sports, Inc.
using CNT in making bicycle
component.
▪ Zyvex Technologies using
CNT for manufacturing of
light weight boats.
▪ Replacing transistors from
the silicon chips as they are
small and emit less heat.
▪ In electric cables and wires.
▪ In solar cells.
▪ In fabrics.
➢ Nanorods (quantum dots)
• Nanorods are one morphology of
nanoscale objects.
• Dimensions range from 1-100 nm.
They may be synthesized from
•
metals or semiconducting
materials.
• A combination of ligands act as
shape control agents and bond to
different facets of the nanorod with
different strengths. This allows
different faces of the nanorod to
grow at different rates, producing
an elongated object.
• Uses
▪ In display technologies,
because the reflectivity of
the rods can be changed by
changing their orientation
with an applied electric field.
▪ In microelectromechanical
system (MEMS)
▪ In cancer therapeutics
➢ Nanobots
• Close to the scale of 10-9
• Largely in R&d phase
• Nanobots of 1.5 nanometers across,
capable of counting specific
molecules in a chemical sample.
• Since nanobots would be
microscopic in size, it would
probably be necessary for very large
numbers of them to work together
to perform microscopic and
macroscopic tasks.
• Capable of replication using
environmental resources.
• Application
▪ Detection of toxic
components in
environment
▪ In drug delivery
▪ Biomedical instrumentation.
12
APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
1. Nanotechnology in Drugs (Cancer)
➢ Provide new options for drug delivery and
drug therapies.
➢ Enable drugs to be delivered to precisely
the right location in the body and release
drug doses on a predetermined schedule
for optimal treatment.
➢ Attach the drug to a nanosized carrier.
➢ They become localized at the disease site,
i.e., cancer tumor
➢ Then they release medicine that kills the
tumor
➢ Current treatment is through radiotherapy
or chemotherapy.
➢ Nanobots can clear the blockage in
arteries.
2. Nanotechnology in Fabrics
➢ The properties of familiar materials are
being changed by manufacturers who are
adding nano-sized components to
conventional materials to improve
performance.
• For example, some clothing
manufacturers are making water
and stain repellant clothing using
nano-sized whiskers in the fabric
that cause water to bead up on the
surface.
• In manufacturing bullet proof
jackets.
• Making spill & dirt resistant,
antimicrobial, antibacterial fabrics.
3. Nanotechnology in Mobile
➢ Morph, a nanotechnology concept device
developed by Nokia Research Center
(NRC) and the University of Cambridge
(UK)
➢ The Morph will be super hydrophobic
making it extremely dirt repellant.
➢ It will be able to charge itself from
available light sources using photovoltaic
nanowire grass covering its surface.
➢ Nanoscale electronics also allow
stretching. Nokia envisage that a
nanoscale mesh of fibers will allow our
mobile devices to be bent, stretched and
folded into any number of conceivable
shapes.
4. Nanotechnology in Electronics
➢ Electrodes made from nanowires enable
flat panel displays to be flexible as well as
thinner than current flat panel displays.
• Nanolithography is used for
fabrication of chips.
• The transistors are made of
nanowires, that are assembled on
glass or thin films of flexible
plastic
• E-paper, displays on sunglasses
and map on the windshields
5. Nanotechnology in computers
➢ The silicon transistors in your computer
may be replaced by transistors based on
carbon nanotubes
➢ A carbon nanotube is a molecule in form
of a hollow cylinder with a diameter of
around a nanometer which consists of
pure carbon.
➢ Nanorods is a upcoming technology in
the displays techniques due to less
consumption of electricity and less heat
emission.
➢ Size of the microprocessors are reduced to
greater extend.
➢ Researchers at North Carolina State
University says that growing arrays of
magnetic nanoparticles, called nanodots.
➢ Hewett Packard is developing a memory
device that uses nanowires coated with
titanium dioxide.
➢ One group of these nanowires is deposited
parallel to another group
13
 ➢ When a perpendicular nanowire is laid
over a group of parallel wires, at each
intersection a device called a memristor is
formed
➢ A memristor can be used as a single-
component memory cell in an integrated
circuit.
➢ By reducing the diameter of the nanowires,
researchers believe memristor memory
chips can achieve higher memory density
than flash memory chips
➢ Magnetic nanowires made of an alloy of
iron and nickel are being uses to create
dense memory devices.
➢ Chips produced by Intel before “I” series
processors were between 65nm – 45nm
➢ Later with the help of nanotechnology
22nm chips were made which itself is a
milestone.
• Advantages of using carbon
nanotubes
▪ Faster and smaller –
carbon nanotubes can be
used to produce smaller
and faster components.
▪ This will also result in
computers that consume
less energy.
▪ High speed and high-
capacity memory
▪ Allows circuits to be more
accurate on the atomic
level.
6. Other uses
➢ Cutting tools made of nanocrystalline
materials, such as tungsten carbide,
tantalum carbide and titanium carbide, are
more wear and erosion – resistant and
last longer than their conventional
counterparts.
➢ Silver nanocrystals have been embedded
in bandages to kill bacteria and prevent
infection.
➢ Nanoparticulate-based synthetic bone
• Formed by manipulating calcium
and phosphate at the molecular
level.
• Aerogels lightest known solid due
to good insulting properties is
used in space suits and are
proposed to use in space craft.
POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE
➢ Nanotechnology may make it possible to
manufacture lighter, stronger, and
programmable materials that
• require less energy to produce than
conventional material
• and that promise greater fuel
efficiency in land transportation,
ships, aircraft, and space vehicles
➢ The future of nanotechnology could very
well include the use of nanorobotics
➢ These nanorobots have the potential to
take on human tasks as well as tasks that
humans could never complete. The
rebuilding of the depleted ozone layer
could potentially be able to perform.
➢ There would be an entire nano surgical field
to help cure everything from natural aging
to diabetes to bone spurs.
➢ There would be almost nothing that
couldn’t be repaired (eventually) with the
introduction of nano surgery.
PITFALLS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
➢ Nano-particles can get into the body
through the skin, lungs and digestive
system, thus creating free radicals that can
cause cell damage.
➢ Once nano-particles are in the
bloodstream, they will be able to cross the
blood-brain barrier.
➢ The most dangerous Nano-application use
for military purposes is the Nano-bomb
that contain engineered self-multiplying
deadly viruses that can continue to wipe
out a community, country or even a
civilization.
➢ Nanobots because of their replicating
behavior can be big threat for GRAY GOO.
14
 GESCIE+: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | LECTURE

MODULE 4 | CHAPTER 13: BIOTECHNOLOGY

2nd SEMESTER | S.Y. 2021-2022
LECTURER: MRS. VIRSELY NAVARRO

INTRODUCTION • Genetics
• Physiology
➢ Biotechnology comes from the word
• Biochemistry
“bios” which means life, “techno” which • Immunology
means tools, and “locos” which refers to • Virology
study of. Literally biotechnology • Embryology
pertains to the study of tools from living • Recombinant DNA Technology –
things. genetic manipulation of bacteria,
➢ Biotechnology is branch of science in viruses, fungi plants and animals,
which living things are used to make often for the development of
new products. specific products.
➢ It is the use of living organisms or processes ➢ Applications of Bio-technology
to make products useful for mankind. 1. Health
2. Agriculture
HISTORY 3. Industry
➢ Has been existing since centuries. 4. Environment
➢ Begin with the first action of human on life TYPES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
for his welfare.
➢ It started when people modified A. Green biotechnology (agricultural
microorganisms to the needs of humanity. applications)
➢ In past biotechnologies used yeast cells to ➢ Agricultural biotechnology – is a
ferment alcoholic drinks and the bacteria to collection of scientific techniques use to
make cheese and yoghurt. improve plants, animals, and
microorganism. Based on an
SCIENCE BULLETIN – BIP understanding of DNA.
➢ Biotechnology Industrial Park (BIP) is a ➢ Scientists have developed solutions to
special form of industrial park specialized • Increase agricultural productivity
in biotechnology. Such industrial park • Enhances breeders’ ability to make
usually hosts a cluster of companies that improvements in crops and
work together as a bio-refinery. A bio- livestock
refinery is a biomass equivalent of an oil • Enables improvements that are not
refinery. These components refine bio possible with traditional crossing of
materials and produce bio-products. related species alone.
➢ Bioengineering is the science upon which ➢ Green Biotechnology
all biotechnological applications are based • Plant Tissue culture
➢ Bio-technology combines disciplines like: • Plant genetic engineering
• Engineering • Bio fertilizers and bio pesticides
• Computer Science • Hybridization
• Cell and Molecular Biology • Fight climate change
• Microbiology ➢ Use of biotechnological techniques in
agriculture
15
 ➢ Vitamin A deficiency is a serious problem
and can cause blindness at a young age if
left untreated
➢ Golden rice was genetically modified to
produce beta-carotene (a precursor of
Vitamin A that the body converts to vitamin
A). A diet including golden rice can thus
help to raise vitamin A levels
B. White Biotechnology (industrial applications)
➢ It is also called industrial
biotechnology. It is the designing of an
organism to produce useful chemicals
i.e., enzymes
➢ Industrial Biotechnology
• Role in beverage industry
• Medicine (Antibiotics)
• Development of new vaccines
• Development of new processes
for higher production
• Role in food processing
• Apply technology to improve
food quality
➢ The use of biological methods to optimize
industrial processes
➢ Applied by manufacturers of laundry
detergents
➢ Includes research for new enzymes
(proteins that remove oily and protein-
based stains)
➢ Enzymes that work under extreme
conditions (wash temperatures of 20
degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Celsius
➢ This often entails modifying the enzymes of
microorganisms for these processes
C. Red Biotechnology (medical applications)
➢ This term is used in medical processes.
It involves the manipulation of
microorganisms to make products such
as antibiotics.
➢ It includes:
• Production of medicines and
pharmaceutical products for
treating or diagnosing disorders
• Designing of organisms to
manufacture antibiotics and
vaccines
• Engineering of genetic defects
through genomic manipulation
• Use in forensics through DNA
profiling
➢ Examples:
• Production of human insulin from
nom-human sources
• Production of hormones like
Interferons, Cytokinin, Steroids, and
human growth hormones.
• Gene therapy for prevention and
control of diseases like hemophilia
cystic fibrosis
• Development of vaccines and
antibodies for rabies, HIV, etc.
D. Blue Biotechnology (aquatic applications)
➢ Blue biotechnology is a term that has been
used to describe the marine and aquatic
applications of biotechnology, but its use is
relatively rare.
USES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
➢ Environment
➢ Development of medicines
➢ Cloning
➢ Gene Therapy
➢ Genetic Testing
➢ Agricultural development
A. Development of Medicine
• With the help of biotechnology:
▪ Microorganisms can be
used to make biological
substances for humans
which are equally effective
as natural substances
▪ Microorganisms such as
bacteria and yeast are used
to make substance (produce
drugs) like insulin and
interferon
▪ Treatment of diseases like
hepatitis and arthritis are
made possible with the help
of biotechnology
16
 a. Drug Production
• Insulin:
▪ Human insulin is being
produced using genetic
engineering technique
known as Humulin and it is
used for the treatment of
diabetes that is low sugar
level in the blood.
• Interferon:
▪ Interferon interfere in
transmission of viral
genome from one cell to
another and it also inhibits
the cell division of abnormal
cells.
▪ Interferon produced using
the recombinant DNA
technology is used to treat
cancer patients.
▪ Interferon improved the
quality of life of cancer
patients.
• Human Growth Hormone:
▪ Since dwarfism is caused by
growth hormone deficiency
so it can be diagnose by
HGH testing
▪ So HGH is used for the
treatment of dwarfism due
to hypo pituitary activity
B. Gene Therapy
• Replacing a mutated gene that
causes disease with a healthy copy
of the gene
• Inactivating or “knocking out” a
mutated gene that is functioning
improperly
• Introducing the new gene that help
fight a disease.
C. Genetic Testing
• It involves the direct examination of
DNA molecule of an organism. It is
used for
▪ Newborn Screening: test
for abnormal missing of
gene product.
▪ Carrier Testing: test to
avoid transfer of defective
gene from parents to child
▪ Identity Testing
▪ Genetic disorder like
(Sickle cell anemia)
• Better drugs can be obtained by the
knowledge of genetics
• Genetic testing can be used to
detect the mutations regarding
genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis,
sickle cell anemia, Huntington
diseases, etc.
• Tests are also being developed to
detect various cancers.
D. Environment
• Biotechnology helps to: Eliminate
pollutants and Remove waste from
environment
E. Cloning
• Clones are organisms that are exact
genetic copies. Every single bit of
their DNA is identical.
• Clones can happen naturally –
identical twins are just one of many
examples:
▪ Placing the cell in body of
organism
▪ By placing egg cell on the
Petri dish to make
embryonic stem cell
F. Agricultural Development
• DNA of plant is modified to:
▪ Enhance protection of
plants against diseases.
▪ Increase the quality of
nutritional value of the
plants
▪ Increase the yield of the
plants
BIOTECHNOLOGY TIMELINE
➢ 1996 – First mammal cloned from adult
cells
➢ 1990’s – First conviction using genetic
fingerprinting
17
➢ 1996 – Development of Affymetrix
GeneChip
➢ 1997 – First artificial chromosomes
➢ In December 2004, Dr. Briggitte claimed in
a letter to UN that Clonaid has successfully
cloned 13 children.

18
 GESCIE+: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | LECTURE

MODULE 4 | CHAPTER 14: GMO

2nd SEMESTER | S.Y. 2021-2022
LECTURER: MRS. VIRSELY NAVARRO

INTRODUCTION
➢ Genetically Modified Organisms -
Intentionally changing a living thing’s
original genes or DNA.
• Genetic: referring to genes or DNA
• Modification: changing from an
original
• Organism: any living thing including
animals, plants, bacteria, fungi

➢ Non-GMO
➢ GMO
• Simple selection
➢ Since we have been choosing plants to
• Selective breeding
domesticate, we have been creating GMOs!
• Interspecies crosses
• 10,000 year ago
• Mutagenesis
➢ We choose the plants with desirable traits,
• Transgenesis
(good DNA/Genes)
• Genome editing
• Produces lots of fruit, survives
➢ These six represent both “Traditional
drought, doesn’t get eaten by
Breeding Techniques” and “Genetic
bugs…
Engineering Techniques”
➢ We plant those seed with those traits
➢ Clearly some of these techniques have
(others we don’t)
been used long before we knew anything
• Making breeds of plants!
about DNA specifically.
➢ So any plant we choose to domesticate or
➢ We didn’t find out about DNA structure
grow for our own good, is having their
until 1952 and it still took several years
genes changed by us, it’s a GMO!
before we fully understood the importance
BEFORE DOMESTICATION of DNA to heredity.
➢ Not all of these techniques require the
➢ So many of our most common foodstuffs
same level of technology to achieve.
look nothing like their ancestors.
➢ Since humans have started domesticating
plants for wide spread production we have
chosen the traits we want to see in plants.

19
 METHODS OF PLANT BREEDING

ONLY TRANSGENESIS
➢ Adding a specific , well-characterized gene
to a new organisms to transfer a specific
➢ One Gene vs. Many Genes
trait!
• Traditional: Many Genes Changed
➢ One or a few traits!
▪ Simple Selection
➢ Lots of methods to get the new trait into
▪ Selective Breeding
the cell!
▪ Interspecies Crosses
• Gene Gun Particle Accelerator
▪ Mutagenesis
• DNA microinjection
• Genetic Engineering: One Gene
• Retrovirus Insertion
Changed
• Restriction Enzyme Insertion
▪ Transgenesis
• Stem Cell Transgenesis
▪ Genome Editing
➢ The key is specifically the number of genes
that are changed at once.
➢ Traditional techniques have the potential
to change thousands or hundreds of
thousands of genes at once. With this type
of breading, you cannot choose to target
one specific gene without possibly
effecting many others. This of it as one
good but thousands of possible bads too….
This process can take a long time, with
many crosses before the desirable
combination of traits occurs, if ever at all!
➢ Genetic Engineering uses technology to
specifically isolate one gene or one small
set of genes to confer the a single desirable
trait. Since only one gene is altered or
inserted you don’t have to worry about any
additional changes to the rest of the
genome.

20
➢ Scientists are not going through the world
and randomly creating transgenic
organisms with whatever they can find.
➢ The process is long, takes millions of
dollars, and can be decades of work by
countless individuals completing rigorous
testing at every possible turn.

21
 INFORMATION ON GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED FOODS FOR CONSUMERS

➢ This represents all of the transgenic crops

that are present in the US!
➢ Is this smaller than you expected? Do you
see some missing?
➢ All of the medical uses have been omitted
because they are screened under a much
more rigorous standards by the FDA!
➢ All of the fiber transgenics are also
excluded, like spider web goats milk, are
used in industry and not food or crop
production.

GENETIC ENGINEERING IN THE FUTURE?

➢ Altering the DNA within an organism by
changing the organisms original genome.
➢ Deleting genes that are harmful
➢ Duplicating genes that induce certain
protein productions, additional starch
production in corn
➢ Editing genes to change specific sequences
and change proteins
➢ So… GMO or Not?

➢ Multiple concerns
• Increasing consumer interest in
source of food

22
 ▪ Health implications of food
production methods
• Will use term “Genetically
engineered (GE)”
▪ Scientifically accurate term
used by FDA
▪ Genetically modified
organisms (GMOs-
synonym)
▪ Transgenic crops or
animals- synonym
• 37 % of U.S. adults vs. 88% AAAS
scientists think GM foods are safe-
Pew Research, 2015
• Many issues tied together
REGULATION OF GE PRODUCTS
➢ FDA rigorously reviews for:
• Unintended effects/ toxicity
• Allergenicity (i.e. nut gene into
other crops)
• Nutritional composition- not
significantly different
➢ Human trials not conducted
• Study of composition better
indicator of safety
➢ USDA and EPA also regulate
➢ “We have reviewed the scientific literature
on GE crop safety for the last 10 years that
catches the scientific consensus matured
since GE plants became widely cultivated
worldwide, and we can conclude that the
scientific research conducted so far has not
detected any significant hazard directly
connected with the use of GM crops.”
➢ Concerns about GEs
• Environmental effects- may lead to
pesticide resistance (Bt corn or
herbicide resistant weeds)
▪ Likely due to improper
farming practices with this
▪ Need to use crop rotation,
alternate varieties, good
practices
• Concerns about corporate control
• Uncertainty of long-term effects,
future research results
▪ Know that 20 years of
consumption is safe (since
GE introduced), but what
about longer?
➢ Concerns about GEs – 2
• Fear of the unknown
▪ Small number of studies
may show that GE causes
harm
• Companies may not favor GE
labeling- why not?
GE LABELING
➢ President signed federal law on July 29,
2016
• Most packaged food products to
require label, website/phone #, OR
smartphone readable code w/ GE
status
• USDA (not FDA) to write specific
rules by July 2018
➢ Overrules VT and other state GE labeling
laws (which may all be different)
• Vermont GE labeling law was in
force July 1, 2016
23
 •Required products to be labeled
with GE status
➢ Federal GE labeling law questions
• What is a GE product?
▪ e.g.: corn oil, corn
sweeteners- no DNA or
protein left- are they still
GE?
▪ USDA rule making process
will decide
▪ Proponents say a website
can provide more details on
this than a food label
• Penalties for companies not
complying?
• Is this enough information for
consumers?
➢ GE/GMO free options already available
• Certified Organic foods- not
allowed to have GEs
• Products labeled as “GMO free”

➢ Recognize that there are diverse

perspectives, uncertainties
➢ How do we meet current food needs
without compromising food needs of
other countries, future generations around
the world
➢ Need to ensure that information is science
based
• Also need to respect individual
food sourcing philosophies

24