In this assignment you will be creating a presentation on innovations in biology and technology. You will be submitting it into your assignment folder as a video link of your narrated PowerPoint presentation, and a Word document of your narration (your “speaker’s notes) which will be reviewed for similarity by Turnitin. Instructions on how to complete this procedure can be found below.
This assignment addresses course outcomes 1-4:
recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems.
make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations.
weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method.
use knowledge of biological principles, the scientific method, and appropriate technologies to ask relevant questions, develop hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, interpret results, and draw conclusions.
Select one of the topics listed below (a-e).
a) Stem cells. Your friend has suffered a spinal cord injury after a bad car accident. The medical team has decided that he is a good candidate for a clinical trial using stem cell therapy. Your friend has not had a biology course since high school, so you decide to create a presentation sharing your knowledge of stem cells. Include in your presentation a description of the biology of stem cells and how these cells are unique from other cells. Contrast the different types of stem cells, including pros and cons for each type. Explain how stem cells can be used to treat diseases and injury, with special focus on spinal cord injuries. Include information from at least one research study or clinical trial. Conclude with your own opinion.
b) Human-caused global climate change is the biggest environmental challenge we are faced with today. Your aunt is a climate skeptic and you have decided to use your understanding of science and biology to explain to her why earth’s climate is changing, describe the major biological effects of climate change, and discuss how technology can be a solution to this problem. You should start with a brief description of the greenhouse effect and how carbon dioxide is a natural part of the carbon cycle. Then explain how our use of fossil fuels is disrupting the carbon cycle and enhancing the greenhouse effect. What are the major ecological effects and human health concerns associated with climate change? Describe at least one example of each. And finally, what can we do to reduce our impact on the climate through technological innovation? Include a description of a minimum of two solutions.
c) Gene Editing (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats – CRISPR) has been the most recent breakthrough discovery in bioengineering that enables scientists to edit DNA. Because you have studied biology in this course, you have volunteered at your niece’s Middle School Science Club to make a presentation and monitor a student debate about CRISPR. The students will be watching the following video before your presentation: https://www.com/watch?time_continue=252&v=2pp17E4E-O8 and you need to be prepared in case there are any questions. Please include in your presentation the answers to the following questions: What is “CRISPR”? What role does Cas9 play in the CRISPR process? How does the CRISPR-Cas9 system snip and replace any DNA sequence? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of gene editing? Include specific examples. Do you believe that the inherent risks of modifying animal DNA is worth the rewards? Explain. Do you believe that it is ethical to genetically engineer humans and/or animals? Explain.
d) Vaccines. Your friend is worried about the many vaccines that his newborn son is scheduled to receive and asks you for advice since you are taking a biology course. You decide to create a presentation to help him understand vacci Start with an explanation of how vaccines work. Briefly contrast the traditional methods used to create vaccines with more recently used biotechnology techniques including the COVID 19 mRNA vaccines. What are some of the diseases that infants and children in the US are routinely vaccinated against. How have vaccinations impacted the frequency of these diseases over the past 100 years? Why are some people worried about giving their children vaccines? Is there scientific evidence to support these concerns? Conclude with advice to your friend in regard to getting the recommended vaccines based on what you learned from reliable information sources.
e) Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Artificial Intelligence has powerful applications in medicine. Neural networks have already shown themselves to be more accurate than physicians when diagnosing certain diseases, and in predicting which patients are at higher risk for other diseases. Neural networks are also faster than human physicians, able to analyze data from thousands of patients in the time it takes a human physician to analyze one. Explain how these neural networks are created, and summarize two examples from the literature where neural networks are used for either diagnostic or risk assessment purposes. Be sure to discuss the benefits as well as disadvantages of using this technology, and any social implications you can see arising from their use.
Your presentation should include the following:
A) You should include the following sections in your presentation: Purpose, Background, Discussion (in which you answer the questions of your research topic) and Conclusion. List all references on the last slide of the presentation.
B) Include a title slide -presentation title, name, course, instructor, and due date.
C) Presentation information slides – suggested 8 – 15 slides (it is more important to remain within the time range of the presentation – between 4 to 7 minutes). Do not overload your slides, it is always best to identify the important points. Ideally, a slide should have 6 – 7 bullets (maximum) and 6 – 8 words per bullet. Avoid full sentences.
D) Presentation font: You may use a larger font size for the titles (up to 40) and smaller for the content (not smaller than 28) and 10 for references.
E) Add images that contribute to the information that you are sharing verbally. Add the URL to the website where you found an image, below each image you use (small font is OK to make it less distracting) or include these in the reference list at the end of the presentation.
F) Write a script for your narration for each slide in a Word document. It is OK if you do not strictly follow the script when you narrate.