SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

(GE STS)

UNIT 3: ISSUES IN
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
AND SOCIETY
Lesson 1:
BIODIVERSITY AND A
HEALTHY SOCIETY
Objectives:
Identify the importance of biodiversity as
a source of different biological resources
Discuss the adverse effects of resources
depletion on society and the measures to
mitigate them
Integrate new ideas to help sustain our
biodiversity and achieve a healthy
society.
 Biodiversity
 Varietyof the life found in biota from genetic makeup of plants
and animals to cultural diversity.
 Provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human
well being at present and in the future.
 Important in how society benefits from it
Three types of Biodiversity:
1. Genetic Diversity
- refers to the variations among organisms of the
same species
2. Species Diversity
 Refers to the variety of species within a particular region
 Influenced by the environmental conditions in the region
Species
 Are the normal measure of biodiversity for these are the
basic units of biological classification
 Are grouped together in families based on shared
characteristics
3. Ecosystem Diversity
 Refers to the network of different species in
an ecosystem and the interaction of these
species
 The richness of biodiversity is because of the
variations of climatic and altitudinal
conditions along with varied ecological
habitats
Benefits from the richness of biodiversity
 Humans can source from nature biological
resources (food and energy)
 Regulate climate, food, pollination, water, air,
quality, water storage, decomposition of wastes
 These numerous benefits however makes the
biodiversity vulnerable to exploitation thus,
humans needs to be responsible in optimizing
the benefits of biodiversity through the proper
utilization of science and technology
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
 herbal Medicine
Organisms:
Cypress (Cypressus semperverens)
Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)
- cough, colds, inflammation since ancient
times
FOOD
 Farmers and fishermen rely on healthy ecosystems
for their livelihood
 Benefits
of biodiversity are necessary for growth of
important crops
ENERGY
Humans rely on energy provided by the ecosystem
- bamboo pipelines with depths of 800 ft for
lighting and heating
 19th to 20th century – utilization of coal energy
- there is no direct nor indirect exhaustion of
biodiversity in the utilization of energy resources
althroughout history
However, 1973 effects in the environment and the
risk of potential accidents when using energy
alarmed many environmental organization
 1979 – nuclear reactor accident at the Mile Island
near Middletown, Pennsylvania happened
End of 1980 – biggest oil spill in the US
waters-the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska
2000 – number of catastrophic events
transpired
- Coal ash spill in Tenesse
- Oil spill in the gulf of Mexico
- Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan
 Jones Pejchar and Kiesecker in 2015
- Conducted report on the repercussions of society’s demand for
clean and abundant energy on biodiversity and human well-being
- the demands for energy -positive impact on unconventional
ways of producing energy
in turn, have resulted in adverse effects on biodiversity in terms
of:
wildlife mortality
habitat loss
Fragmentation
noise and light pollution
invasive species
changes in carbon stock and water resources
 WATER STORAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL
discovery of Groundwater due to increase demand
for potable water
- Rivers and lakes – irrigation
- Floodways – prevent flooding near agricultural
lands
- Aqeuducts – Maintain stable water supply
Role of forest biodiversity in water
resources
1. Forests provides natural filtration and
storage systems to provide freshwater
- Roots and leaves of trees – create
conditions that promote the infiltration of
rainwater into the soil
- Percolation occurs-allow movement of
surface water into rivers and lakes
2. Water Cycle affects rates of transpiration and
evaporation and water storage in watersheds-
regulates the quality and quantity of freshwater
FLOODING
 Known for its adverse effects
 Benefits:
- In Agriculture: helps farmers for it
distributes nutrients that particular patches of
soil lack
- Can add nutrients to rivers and lakes
 CONS:
- Cause long term damages
- Caused by typhoons- extremely damaging
Climate change
- Philippines: Urban-homes, roads, infrastructures
Rural- crops and farmlands
 Excessive Nitrogen
- reduces resilience of forest to other
environmental stress(drought, frosts, pests,
diseases)
- concentration limit of nitrate in drinking
water is too high to protect
- Widespread exceedance of N critical
concentration will adversely affect the
structure and function of ecosystems
Negative Impacts:
Reduces the sink capacity for CO2 and
O3- enhance their atmospheric
concentrations and affecting the global
water cycle
Global warming- soil store pollutants
temporarily that affects water
purification
PROTOCOLS OF BIODIVERSITY
 MontrealProtocol on Substances that
Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the
Ozone Layer) is an international treaty
designed to protect the ozone layer by
phasing out the production of numerous
substances that are responsible for ozone
depletion
PROTOCOLS OF BIODIVERSITY
 Kyoto Protocol is an
international agreement that aimed to
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and
the presence of greenhouse gases (GHG) in
the atmosphere. The essential tenet of
the Kyoto Protocol was that industrialized
nations needed to lessen the amount of
their CO2 emissions.
PROTOCOLS OF BIODIVERSITY
 Cartagena Protocol
- Aims to ensure the safe transport, handling, use
of living modified organism(LMO) resulting from
modern biotechnology that may have adverse
effect on biodiversity
- linked to the convention on biological
diversity
- Protects the Pacific Communities and
biodiversity from the consequences of LMOs
- Facilitates to detect LMOs
Strictimplementation of
environmental laws among
industries and communities alike
must be ensured to prevent further
damage
Should not promote mass pollution
transfer from one matrix of the
environment to the other
Lesson 2:

GENETICALLY MODIFIED
ORGANISMS (GMOs) AND
GENE
Objectives:

 1 Identify the uses and effects of GMOs and gene

therapy on society in terms of health and economy
 2. Enumerate the GMO and gene therapy’s positive
and negative impacts to the living things; and
 3. Describe various ethical concerns associated
with GMO.
What is GMOs?
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
(GMOs)
 Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are
organisms whose genetic material has been
artificially modified to change their characteristics
in some way or another.
 It refers broadly to organisms that are produced
when selected individual genes are transferred
from a given donor organism into another target
organism, typically conferring desired properties
to the new organism.
 Itbrings new hope for medical cures,
promises to increase yields in agriculture, and
has the potential to solve the world’s
pollution and resource crisis.
 Include plants, animals, and enzymes.
 Made up of genes from different species
combined together to create a super-resistant
organism.
Lis
These are some things that GMO are modified to do:
1. Pest Resistance
(Example: Bt corn):
The genome of Bt corn has been modified to
include a gene from the Bacillus thuringiensis
soil bacterium, which produces a protein
poisonous to the European corn borer, a
damaging insect to corn crops.
2. Virus Resistance (Example: GM
papaya):
 The genetically modified papaya, developed
at the University of Hawaii, is resistant to the
plant pathogen Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV),
which is spread primarily by aphids. The
Rainbow papaya variety is created by
injecting a PRSV protein into plant tissue,
which imparts virus resistance. This technique
works similarly to human influenza virus
vaccines.
3. Herbicide Tolerance (Example:
RoundupReady soybean):

Glyphosate is a weed killer that is

widely used. Tolerance to the
herbicide was genetically modified
into agricultural crops like soybeans,
allowing farmers to spray their fields
extensively without destroying the
crops.
4. Fortification (Example: Golden
rice):
 Engineered to include beta-carotene
biosynthesis genes, Golden rice was developed
to address dietary vitamin A shortages in the
developing world. Rice does not usually
produce beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin
A, in the edible portion of the grain. Research is
currently being conducted on the bioavailability
of the genetically modified grain.
5. Cosmetic Preservation (Example:
Arctic Apple):
 Currently in the regulatory pipeline in
the U.S. and Canada, Arctic Apples are
genetically engineered to silence the
apple gene responsible for browning due
to superficial damage. The technology is
being advertised as cost-saving across
the entire apple supply chain.
6. Increased Growth Rate
(Example: AquAdvantage salmon)
 Genetically modified with genetic material
from the ocean pout (a bottom-dwelling,
eel-like fish) and Pacific Chinook salmon,
the AquAdvantage Atlantic salmon is
designed to decrease the time it takes for
this farmed salmon to grow to market size.
This GE fish is currently undergoing
regulatory review in the U.S.
GENES
Genes
 Its the basic unit of heredity in a living organism.
 Come from our parents.
 Inheritance of our physical traits and the
likelihood of getting certain diseases and
conditions from a parent.
 It contains the data needed to build and
maintain cells and pass genetic information to
offspring.
What is Gene therapy?

 basically an application of the understanding

among others off genes and how it could be used
as an alternative in treating abnormalities and
disorders instead of using drugs or surgical
operation.
 It was envisioned to replace a gene that causes
disease with a healthy one, inactive a mutant
gene, and or introduce a new gene into the cell to
help fight the diseases,healthy
Lesson 3:
The Nano World and
Gene
Therapy (Stem Cells)
Objectives:
 1.Discuss the implication of nanotechnology
in society.
 2.Describe the concept of gene therapy and
its various forms.
 3.Assess the potential benefits and
detriments of nanoworld and stem cell to
global
NANOTECHNOLOGY

 Isdescribed as science, engineering and

technology conducted at the nanoscale (one
nanometer is one-billionth of a meter).
 Itis multidisciplinary, cross- & trans-
disciplinary rolled into one.
NANOSCALE
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.
Types of microscopes to
view minute nanomaterials:
1. Electron microscope

 It
utilizes a particle beam of electrons
to light up a specimen and develop a
well-magnified image.
 They can magnify objects up to a
million times.
2. Atomic force microscope

Itmakes use of a mechanical probe

that gathers information from the
surface of a material.
3. Scanning tunneling microscope

Itenables scientists to view

and manipulate nanoscale
particles, atoms, and small
molecules.
Nano manufacturing

Itrefers to scaled-up, reliable,

and cost-effective manufacturing
of nanoscale materials,
structures, devices, and systems.
 Two fundamental approaches to
nonmanufacturing:

1. Bottom-up fabrication-
It manufactures products by building them up
from atomic- and molecular-scale
components. However, this process can be
time-consuming. Scientists and engineers are
still in search for effective ways of putting up
together molecular components that self-
assemble.
2. Top-down fabrication-
 It trims down large pieces of
materials into nanoscale. This
process needs larger amounts of
materials and discards excess raw
materials
Several approaches to gene
therapy.
 Replacement of mutated gene that
causes disease with a healthy copy of
the gene.
 Inactivation of a mutated gene that is
functioning improperly.
 Introducing a new gene into the body to
help fight a disease.
 Two Types of Gene
Therapy
1. Somatic gene therapy- involves the manipulation
of genes in any cells of the body except sperm and
egg cells that will be helpful to the patient but not
inherited to the patient's descendants.
2. Germ-line gene therapy- involves the genetic
modification of reproductive cells such as sperm
and egg cells that will pass the change on to the
next generation
Stem Cell Gene
Therapy
STEM CELLS
 These are mother cells that have the potential
to become any type of cell in the body.

 Under the right conditions in the body or a

laboratory, stem cells divide to self-renew or
multiply.

 They can become cells of the blood, heart,

bones, skin, muscles, brain, among
others.
SOURCES OF STEM CELLS:
1. Embryonic stem cells
- are derived from a three to five-day-old human embryo that
is in blastocyst phase of development and has about 150
cells. The embryos are usually extras that have been created
in IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics where several eggs are
fertilized in a test tube then implanted into a woman.
2. Somatic stem cells
- are cells that exist throughout the body after embryonic
development. They are also capable of self-renewal and,
with appropriate signals, differentiate into various cell types
from the organ from which they are derived.The extent to
which they are capable of creating various types of cells is
controversial.
LESSON 4
Climate Change
 It refers to the statistically significant changes in
climate for continuous period of time.
 Factors that contribute to climate change can be
natural internal process, external forces and
persistent anthropogenic changes in the
composition of the atmosphere or in land use
 It can be due to natural occurrences or
contributed by acts of human beings.
Natural Causes of
Climate change
El Niño-La Niña cycle, which can cause
temporary warming and cooling. Both
phenomena affect atmospheric circulation
patterns and influence global climate.

 El Niño increases global

temperature.
 La niña decreases the global
temperature.
HUMAN IMPACT

 HUMAN ACTIVITIES contribute to climate change.

 The largest known contribution comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which
releases carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere.

 Green house effect

 Deforestation
 Carbon emissions