Category: Biology

What do you think–does biodiversity protect humans against infectious disease?

Relationship Between Biodiversity and Infectious Diseases

Over the last decade, biodiversity (the variety of all living things on Earth) has continued to decrease due to human behavior and climate change. However, an increase in the number of zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans) such as AIDS, Ebola, West Nile virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and now COVID-19 has made us more aware of how animals and humans interact in an ecosystem.

What do you think–does biodiversity protect humans against infectious disease?

Why do scientists look for water when looking for life? What are the properties of water that are important for sustaining life? Could there be life on other planets without water?

Ever since NASA was established in 1956, humans have been looking for life beyond Earth. The effort in looking for life elsewhere in our solar system involves looking for the presence of water. Why do scientists look for water when looking for life? What are the properties of water that are important for sustaining life? Could there be life on other planets without water?

Article/Podcast–This is Why Water is Essential for Life on Earth…and Perhaps the Rest of the Universe (Science Focus) (Links to an external site.)
and The Amazing Properties of Water (NRICH) (Links to an external site.)

What are your thoughts about this—is a diet low in carbohydrates better than a diet low in saturated fats in decreasing cardiovascular disease? If so, how does that work and why? What is the significance of carbon in forming the basis of the four classes of biologically important organic molecules?

Module 2 Chemical Building Blocks of Life

It seems like every year or two a new diet trend makes the rounds: Paleo, Mediterranean, Atkins, Zone, raw food, South Beach, macrobiotics, ketogenic, and 5:2 (fasting diet). Dieting can be quite frustrating when one minute the scientific world says to eat lots of meat and low carbs and the next minute we are told to stay away from fatty foods and carbs are not the enemy. It’s enough to drive a person mad. We all know that eating nutritious food is good for us but is the quote “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” true?

What are your thoughts about this—is a diet low in carbohydrates better than a diet low in saturated fats in decreasing cardiovascular disease? If so, how does that work and why? What is the significance of carbon in forming the basis of the four classes of biologically important organic molecules?

How do these issues affect people and society? How are they affected by technology, society, genetics, and the environment?

Module 6 Final Presentation

Present the neural basis of your topic and highlighting recent research on these brain mechanisms. Include the names and functions of specific anatomical regions and any relevant points about cell function, neurotransmitters, or other cellular and molecular mechanisms.

Present the practical implications of this biological and psychological knowledge. How do these issues affect people and society? How are they affected by technology, society, genetics, and the environment?

Explain and give examples of the most notable consequences to individuals and groups or highlight other primary topics of concern and application within this field.

 

Identify and label the key features/organelles of cells from plants, animals, and bacteria.

Lab 4 Dropbox

“From single-celled organisms to human populations, viruses affect all life on earth, often determining what will survive. But viruses themselves also evolve. New viruses, such as the AIDS-causing HIV-1, may be the only biological entities that researchers can actually witness come into being, providing a real-time example of evolution in action.” Villarreal, L. P. (2004). Are viruses alive? Scientific American-American Edition, 291, 100-105. (Links to an external site.)

Learning Objectives

Identify and label the key features/organelles of cells from plants, animals, and bacteria.

Classify cells as prokaryotic or eukaryotic and compare and contrast features of each.

Summarize the key functions of cell organelles.

Watch the following videos:
1https://youtu.be/cj8dDTHGJBY

2https://youtu.be/9UvlqAVCoqY

 

Describe what is considered NORMAL anatomy for your particular pathophysiology. For example, if you are discussing a disease related to the brain, explain what is normal for the brain from an anatomical standpoint.

Polycythemia

Normal physiology of the major body system affected:

Explain your particular pathophysiology from a scientific standpoint. In the previous two sections, you explained what is considered normal, in this section, you should describe what the pathophysiology is doing that is causing these issues, how the normal anatomy & physiology is affected/different in a person with your condition.

You should show a thorough understanding of the anatomical and physiological changes contributing to the disease. Some good keywords to search for when doing your research might be “Pathology of __________”, Pathophysiology of __________.”

Prevention: In this section, you will explain how your pathophysiology could be prevented. This should outline possible prevention protocols, or clearly indicate if none is available based on the current scientific literature.

Describe what is considered NORMAL anatomy for your particular pathophysiology. For example, if you are discussing a disease related to the brain, explain what is normal for the brain from an anatomical standpoint.