Category: Biology

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Technology Biology Software

Can DNA Solve The World’s Data Storage Problem?

DNA & Data Storage
DNA & Data Storage

We’re creating more data than we know what to do with. Millions of emails and texts and tweets and YouTube videos are quickly building up in data storage centers. Thus far the answer to the issue has been to just build more and more data storage warehouses across the globe, but these data centers suck up immense amounts of power, take up miles of space, and are definitely not helping out the climate change crisis at stake. Since data has become such a crucial part of the world’s digital economy, we can’t ignore the dilemma we’ve created for ourselves: we’re completely overwhelming our data storage systems.

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Biology

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes: the benefits and drawbacks

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

Many of us have had the misfortune to encounter mosquitoes at one time or another. If we’re lucky, we’ve only experienced them from the perspective of being something of an annoyance. We see them as buzzing pests that emerge during humid periods and leave their mark with itchy bumps and welts. However, they can be far more problematic.

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People Biology

A History of Pandemics [8000 B.C.-today]

A History of Pandemics: a hospital during the Spanish Flu
An emergency hospital during 1918-1920 Influenza epidemic (also erroneously known as the Spanish Flu), Camp Funston, Kansas, United States. Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine / Public domain

Lindsay Holiday published two-part very informative video series titled “A History of Pandemics” on Youtube. These pandemics (and epidemics) have occurred countless times in the past, infecting, injuring and killing millions, and sometimes changing dramatically the course of human history.

But, first, what is a pandemic? What is an epidemic?

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Biology

What’s the Epidemiology Behind COVID-19?

COVID-19 and Earth
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19 has become a global crisis very quickly. Image by Miroslava Chrienova from Pixabay

In the last three months, our entire lives have been upended by an organism we can’t see and little understand. In the process, it has transformed millions of us into homeschool teachers of our children, remote workers, and public policy pundits as we debate what our government officials are doing right, and wrong, in response to this global crisis.

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Evolution Biology Life on Earth People

Evolution: that famous “march of progress” image is just wrong

March of Progress (Featured)
March of Progress - The full version of “The Road to Homo sapiens”, from Early Man (1965). Image: On the Origins of "The March of Progress" on Washington University website

Evolution explains how all living beings, including us, came to be. It would be easy to assume evolution works by continuously adding features to organisms, constantly increasing their complexity. Some fish evolved legs and walked onto the land. Some dinosaurs evolved wings and began to fly. Others evolved wombs and began to give birth to live young.

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Biology Life on Earth

Is Cloning the Future of Genomics?

Plasma
Advancements in medicine allow us to live longer and healthier lives today than ever before. Science has shifted the way researchers look at their ability to alter cells in the human body. The use of technologies like cloning might not be as far off in the future as a way to synthetically create organs that match your own. Of course, if this never comes to fruition, it’s vital to know what other methods, such as preventative medicine, can do to protect you and your family. Here’s a look at how genomics, cloning, and the use of prevention can keep you well. Image: Unsplash

Almost every human condition can be linked back to your genes. The list of genetic conditions is lengthy. Diseases like muscular dystrophy, Crohn’s disease, birth defects like spina bifida, and some cancers just barely scrape the long list of ailments that can be passed from one generation to the next. And, it seems that many of us try to overcome our genetics at every opportunity. We work to live a healthy lifestyle, eat the right foods, limit stress, and get enough rest each day. What if there was a better way to protect yourself and those you love from your own genes?

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Technology Biology

Virtual Reality and its Benefits to Biotechnology

Virtual Reality (VR) and biotechnology
Virtual Reality (VR) can play a role in making the field more accessible and overcoming a number of limitations in terms of research.

Biotechnology is a rapidly developing field. Even though the field has been around for many years, today’s biotechnology applications are far more complex and relevant than ever before. The fundamental aim at the core of this field is to find viable solutions to meet human needs, in turn improving our quality of life.

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