BioEntrepreneurial Idea Blog Post

A product that people might buy that is related to biology is a warning signal of disease or a health issue. When you go to the bathroom and urinate the toilet could tell and show you that if you don't stop doing this or start doing this that something might happen to you. People would listen to this because they could be able to see what they will be like in the future. For example a person that has a bad diet would use this toilet and the toilet would show this person being obese, saying how much they will weigh, and diseases they obtained from being obese. i like this idea because i would listen to this toilet because it could change my life by keeping me healthier and giving me more years to live.

Biological Breakthrough

In this blog I will be writhing about a biological breakthrough that happened in 2005 that could help fight liver cancer. With the help of Kyoto University in Japan; Professor John Mayer and Dr. Simon Dawson discovered the way a cancer causing protein called oncoprotein works. The cancer is called hepatocellular (liver) carcinoma.

This cancer is very common in Africa and Asia, and is common in people who have had hepatitis. There is no cure for primary liver cancer and the survival rates are low. Liver cells that are dying are disrupted by oncoprotein and protect the liver from cancer. The protein is sometimes the "guardian of the genome" and is responsible for regulating cell division in the liver.

I think this will help save many peoples lives and it will delay the spread of the disease through out the body and hopefully give many people more years to live and to enjoy life.

For this blog i will be writing about the founders of the pharmaceutical company, Genentech. Their names are Robert Swanson and Herbert Boyer who founded the company in 1976. Boyer was a professor at the University of California and he taught biochemistry and biophysics. Swanson was a venture capitalist with a company in San Francisco before he co-founded Genentech.

Genentech discover, develop, and manufacture drugs based on research from DNA. Oncology is the companies biggest focus with drugs like Avastin which is a first line drug for colon cancer and Herceptin is for breast cancer.

The picture on the very right is the Genentech building in South San Francisco, California. The photo in the center is Herbert Boyer. The photo on the bottom is Robert Swanson.

Eye Guest Speaker

I have listened to Dr. Pamela Fong about the human eye and I learned a lot. Some of the things that I have learned include: the pupil getting bigger when it is darker and smaller when it is lighter, and also I learned about the retina and cornea. Another thing I learned is that the brain and the eye work together. I learned the following definitions about the eye:
Stroma- the eye's supporting tissue.
Retina- a small patch of tissue at the back of the eyeball that contains the light-sensitive rods and cones.
Cornea- the transparent anterior structure of the eye's outer coat that covers the iris and pupil.
Pupil- the central opening of the eye's iris.
Pigment- any substance or matter thats colors the body.
Cones- the light-sensitive retinal cells that respond best to bright light and provide detection pf the spectral colors.
Lens- a transparent structure that is convex on front and back, located between the vitreous humor and the iris, and that focuses light rays onto the retina.
neuron- nerve cell; the basic conducting unit of the nervous system consisting of a cell body and thread like projections that conduct electrical impulses.
Iris- the pigmented diaphragm which is perforated by the pupil and is located behind the cornea.
Optic Nerve- the nerve carrying visual information from the eye to the visual cortex via the optic tract
Cortex- the gray matter on the outer surface of the brain.

The picture to the right is the inside of a right eye.

Salamander (Batrachoseps Attenuatus)

For my blog I was given a choice of amphibians. My choice was Batrachoseps Attenuatus(a salamander). This salamander's taxonomy includes: Domain: Eukarya, Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Amphibia, Order: Caudata, Family: Plethodontidae, Genus: Batrachoseps, Species: Attenuatus. This salamander lives in moist areas like under logs, rocks, bark, leaf litter, stumps, debris. It is also found in areas such as chaparral, woodland, grassland, forests, urban yards, vacant lots, and driftwood. This salamander eats invertebrates.This salamander ranges from 7-14 cm in total length. It has 4 short limbs, a long body, and a very long tail.

NCSE Lecture

The lecture of Louise Mead(who works for National Center for Science Education) in class Thursday 1/24 was very interesting. It was about evolution(change in species over time) and evidence for evolution which includes: biogeography, comparative anatomy, molecular biology, fossil record, and Developmental biology. Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. Comparative Anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. Fossil Record is the collection of preserved remains or evidence of a living thing left in a rock. Developmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop.It was interesting how so many people believed that evolution was fake. With all the evidence that goes along with evolution it would be difficult to deny evolution. Personally I accept evolution and agree with it 100%.

San Francisco Bay Oil Spill

San Francisco sued the owner and many other people for spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. The oil has killed or seriously injuring up to 2,200 birds and many living organisms that live in the sea, harmed the jobs of many fisherman and tourism in the bay. The picture on the right shows how badly damaged this beach has been affected by the oil spill. The license of the pilot was suspended. Many volunteers around the bay are helping out to clean up the mess. Special crews with special oil equipment were hired by the city of San Francisco to clean up oil damaged areas. The crab season was put on hold for 3 weeks pending results of investigation of contamination. The local fisherman succeeded in winning a lawsuit from the owner of the ship for lost income over the 3 week period. Local people will be weary in the future to eat crab or other marine life caught in the bay out of fear that the food will be contaminated. My feelings toward this subject are that how could you run your boat into a bridge; was there nobody paying attention were there people sleeping. San Francisco could be dealing wit this issue for a very long time. The image below shows a picture of a bird that has been greatly harmed by the oil spill.