The Science of Biology

1.1

1.1 What is science and what is not?

• Science is an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world.

Science is…

• Also, the body of knowledge scientists built up by this process

• EX: cell structure, genetics, ecology

Peacock Tail

• Angry goddess had Argus killed and his eyes put on the tail of a peacock

• Peacocks with elaborate tails are preferred by peahens as mates.

Observations and Inferences

OBSERVATION

• Made with our senses or tools

• Direct measurements (data)

• High probability

Observation:

• A. Quantitative– Data is expressed in numbers– EX: there were 478 blue flowers and 322 white

flowers

• B. Qualitative– Descriptive only– There are blue and white flowers

INFERENCE• Logical interpretation

based on prior knowledge or experience

• Interpretation of facts

• Probability, not certainty

DO WORKSHEET

• Put “I” for Inference

• Put “O” for Observation

• Compare with others

OBSERVATIONS

INFERENCES

OBSERVATIONS

INFERENCES

OBSERVATIONSINFERENCES

Hypothesis

• Proposed scientific explanation for a set of observations.

• “educated guess”

Problem:

What causes MRSA?

What is MRSA?

• methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

• A bacterial mutation due to overuse of antibiotics.

You Make Hypotheses• Why might wrestlers be getting it?• Why do children with scrapes or • cuts get it?• Why do people with HIV-AIDS

get it? In nursing homes?• Why often occurring in hospitals?

Science and Human Values

• “Bioethics”

study of what is right and wrongin biological information and technology

What do YOU think?

• To mix or not to mix?

• SINGAPOREANS are divided over the idea of allowing scientists to mix the genetic material of animals and humans, according the latest findings of an ongoing public consultation.

What do YOU think?

• A robot with a real brain

• Researchers have introduced the world to Gordon, the first robot that operates on real brain tissue, according to a news release from University of Reading in the UK August 13.

What do YOU think?

• Cheats of Strength: 10 Next-Gen Olympic Doping Methods

• Most of the positive doping tests in Beijing — and the IOC president estimates there will be as many as 40 — will likely be for steroids and the blood-boosting hormone erythropoietin, known as EPO.

5 Questions p.7

• How can we best use antibiotics to make sure that those “wonder drugs” keep working for a long time?

• Penicillin saved thousands of soldiers• 98 per cent of gonorrhea strains are now

resistant to penicillin • Over prescribed by doctors, so most is

resistant

5 Questions p. 7

• How much of the information in your genes should you be able to keep private?

• Military knowledge

• Insurance companies fail to insure you

• Not hired from a job if predisposed to a disease

• Needed for medical research

5 questions p. 7

• Should communities produce electricity using fossil fuels, nuclear power, or hydroelectric?

• Which is cleanest?

• Which is the cheapest?

• Which harms the environment the least?

• Are there other alternatives?

5 Questions p. 7

• How should chemical wastes be disposed of?

• Pollute land and drinking water

• Ok in old mines or lakes?

• Who decides the safety of the disposal?

5 questions p. 7

• Who should be responsible for their disposal?

• The government?

• The local community?

• The companies who produced the waste? Is it OK they raise their prices?

So…

• SCIENCE

• Based on facts, measurements, observations, tests

• BIOETHICS

• Based on opinion, right and wrong, past experiences

“When Scientists Have a Conflict of Interest”

• You will be writing a paper on an ethical question.

• Want a preview…see p. 23.• Due: Sept. 16• Worth: 50 points