Syers Biology Blog: Issue 1: Gene Therapy

Syers Biology Blog: Issue 1: Gene Therapy: One of the "hot topics" in regards to genetics is Gene Therapy. Click below to enter the tutorial on Gene Therapy: http://learn.genetics....
1. When should Gene Therapy be used?

I think gene therapy should only be used on patients that want to be changed, but only for the right reason. For example a person who has a critical illness or a problem with their genes that needs to be fixed. I do also think that if you know your child has a deformity or if you know from the start it has a severe problem that could be changed by this therapy, I think it would be a good solution for your baby.

2. Who should decide what are "good" and "bad" uses of genetic modifications?

Obviously the people who are researching this therapy know it best. So I think that the people who know the risks, and the positive outcomes of this genetic modification should be in charge of the whole decision making of whether this technique is "good" or bad."

3. Who will have access to gene therapy? Will gene therapy and genetic enhancements create an advantage for those who can afford it?

Well nothing in this world is free and changing your or your child's' genetic make up could get a little pricey. This is probably why only the people who can afford it will be able to use this new enhancement. This will give them a better advantage because they don't have to work for it and just by paying money they can change ones' looks.

What Does It Mean To Be Successful In The Future?

Listening in on my Dad's phone meetings did help me give some understanding that I need good communication and critical thinking skills if i want to be a good candidate for a job. The article "Rigor Redifined" by Tony Wagner explains how having these types of skills can get you highly recongnized in the world of business. Wagner interviewed business leaders and kept recieving the same response over and over. What most business owners are looking for in an employee is their critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and leadership, agility and adaptability, initiative and enterpreneuralism, effective oral and written communication, accesing and analyizing information, and curiosity and imagination. All these skills are not regularly teached in a classroom. In one classroom Wagner sat in on a teacher asks his students, "Give three reasons why the Iron Triangle may be criticized as undemocratic." And no one replies to that question. But when the teacher asks, "OK, who can give me a definition of the Iron Triangle?" Then a student answers, "The military-industrial-congressional complex."

Students these days are hardly ever looking outside the box. They don't stretch their thinking enough and only want to pass classes and never want to work hard for acheivements. One thing that I had to learn when coming into highschool is, critical thinking. I had never been taught to think for myself or elaborate on simple things further then what was needed. Now i think using this skill in my english class is positive thing that will help me in many ways through life. It has assited me in History with annotations and forced me to know what is going on in the book. My other classes don't teach this skill. They teach what they have to through notes and take the easy way out. Notes do help me, but I think combing that with leadership and teamwork it might benefit me in the long run. Teachers should think more often about the reality of the world and what skills you need to master to get a good job. Isn't that why they teach? So they can see us succeed in life?

We Are The Machine

In the video The Machine is Us/ing Us just shows how much we use the Internet in our lives and share things about us without even realizing it. The computer is pretty much perfecting our every by making it better. For example, in the beginning it starts out with showing how different handwriting is compared to the computers text, and describes the handwriting to be “unlinear” and the says the digital text is more “move able, and more flexible. And overall better.”


I think that this video is much like the other video “A Vision of Students Today” because it mentions similar things about the technology today including the Web. the video talks about Web 2.0 and how the people are now connecting more by videos, pictures, and when doing that we are “teaching the Machine a new idea” like the video says, “and gives it an idea.” i think i was already concerned on how far technology is going but when i really try it for my self i change my mind and think it actually might be helpful. But really how useful are things? Better yet; How much technology is that necessary for our life? The demand is so high right now for new technology to make their lives easier whether its to make things smaller or to make things that will most likely make them lazier. People although say that technology is not that important though we need to have it to keep up with the teachers demands. I’m on the Internet every night because I'm asked to check websites and do on line quizzes,so i have to use computers.

Nice Landing...

"Secrets pilots wont tell you" by A. Pawlowiski explains the life of a pilot and what they have to go through in their job daily.Whenever I’m on a plane I do question where the pilot is. I hardly ever catch a glance because they’re always in the cockpit or somewhere they can’t be seen. I usually don’t think about trusting the pilots with my life because I assume they know how to handle things. I didn’t realize that pilots hardly get any sleep from cheap hotels. Meaning that they are not fully rested when taking the challenge a flying a plane shortly after. The planes also run on minimum amount of fuel that causes stress to the pilots. Now I am wondering if I should some what risk my life because the airlines have a lack of money to provide safe traveling.

Pilots in a way have a difficult job because of the 16 hours of flying without a break in between. When they stay at hotels they are usually located in dangerous neighborhoods and even contain bed bugs. I personally wouldn’t want to go in to that profession considering many people got laid off in all the big airlines. Jobs now are becoming unpredictable on how stable they are because of the crashing economy. The economy now is getting better but the budgets for everything are not. I want to be safe at all times and them not caring about the lives possibly at stake but only caring about the money spent. This really does make me question my trust in large airline corporations.

Are the Laws Getting Way Too Ridiculous?

"Toy gun leads to Florida boy's expulsion" by Rich Phillips describes a 7 year boy being expelled for having a toy gun that shoots plastic pellets in his backpack. Phillips explains that the gun wasn’t even out when they found it, and the boy (Samuel) says it was an honest mistake. Because Samuel made such a mistake he is paying a consequence (expulsion) and hasn’t been in school for a year. Samuel is currently being homeschooled by his mother and admits she’s not the best teacher, but the situation is going to a hearing later this month. Most likely Samuel won’t be in school soon because the punishment could go into the next year. That’s another year he will be missing his friends and one more year he’s held from his studies and true potential.

Personally I think Samuel does not deserve this punishment. It’s too extreme for a seven year old. Doing this has prevented him from having the educational experience and setting an environment that contains a lot of drama. The assumption that they portrayed could even be taken by an insult and hurtful. This “toy gun” incident doesn’t really sound like an issue to me. I think it WAS an honest mistake and he should have just been suspended and then move on from the little mishap

The law is going way out of proportion. Once one person pulls a knife or a gun because they have issues with their life or just a bully, the government has to enforce the rules. So having a toy gun that is not even in use is now considered a crime. This is going a little too far. Even now at the air port they thought of everything to keep the passengers out of danger. Anything metal or has potential danger is out of the question, even a tiny little pocket knife. I mean don’t get me wrong; I want to know that I’m safe and out of danger at all times. But something this obvious on what is actually happening is getting to the point where the law is ridiculous. So in the long run, I think people are starting to lose their trust no matter what situation it is. Not trusting people with sharp objects, or on airplanes, buses, schools. If the world keeps losing their trust what will the future look like? Will we all just turn our backs on each other?

The Things Google Can Do

The article Footprints in the Digital Age by Will Richardson demonstrates students of this age are sharing things on the web but not necessarily for their own learning purposes. Richardson is suggesting that the teachers of this generation should step up their game and own the new technologies, so that the teachers can guide the students to use the web effectively and to express the students’ passions. “Students have the potential to own their own learning- and we have to help them seize that potential.” This is one of the phrases that Richardson says that I think summarizes most of the article.

I agree with Richardson on most of this article because the teachers do need to keep up with us if we are willing to learn this way. This new technology now allows us to share our passions and express our feelings and share that to the world, and people with the same perspective on things can follow. I also think that Google and the web can be a dangerous thing. We can be perceived as all the wrong things if we’re not careful. My friend is already on Google but luckily it just shows a paragraph she did in English class. Internet now has a huge influence on students today. I don’t know an assignment right now that doesn’t have to deal with going on the internet. Even children are going on the Web to play games, so this kind of reliability leads to a lot of questions. Like how will the jobs change in the future?

Pencil and Paper Not Enough?

The article “With “Vizit” Elementary Students can Share Pictures…” by David Warlick talks about a new technology that will supposedly revolutionize education. The “Vizit” allow elementary school students to share pictures with the others across the room or even around the world. It also has 3G broad band. The price for this device is 279.99 plus the addition of a monthly payment. Warlick talks about this as a helpful tool to possibly help autistic kids, but overall it would be a waste of money and the kids would still end up writing and with a pencil and paper.

From my perspective I think the way teachers think they need all of this technology to make education better and interesting is ridiculous. Teachers may try to make education fun or have meaning or involvement; but truth is school is school. I don’t think peoples’ minds are going to change about learning just because there’s a piece of technology that’s involved. Students still have to learn the same material no matter what. So why does changing how you learn it matter that much? At my school all of the class rooms had Smart boards. Some teachers definitely took good use out of them, but usually it was primarily used as a projector and a white board. So why was the extra money spent to do just that? I mean it’s not like there was a dramatic change. So they could show us things and then write on the material. Whoa guys, that’s a huge revolution I’m glad we spent our money well (sarcasm).

I think we should stick to old fashion textbooks, pencil and paper. Apparently something was wrong with that so we had to make computers so it’s not so hard on us. Then again it’s probably because we’re getting so lazy to do anything anymore. Think about this; would you rather check Facebook, or go take a walk? Maybe we should go backwards in time instead of forward; and think about what our necessities in life really are.