course material

1. [From 10$/Pg] Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
[From 10$/Pg] Clustered Regularly Interspaced ShortInstructionsPresentation: Innovations
in Biology and TechnologySummary of Instructions:In this assignment you will be creating a
presentation on innovations in biology and technology. You will be submitting it into your
assignment folder as a video link of your narrated PowerPoint presentation, and a Word
document of your narration (your “speaker’s notes) which will be reviewed for similarity by
Turnitin. Instructions on how to complete this procedure can be found below.This
assignment addresses course outcomes 1-4: recognize and explain how the scientific
method is used to solve problems. make observations and discriminate between scientific
and pseudoscientific explanations. weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths
and limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method. use knowledge of
biological principles, the scientific method, and appropriate technologies to ask relevant
questions, develop hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, interpret results, and draw
conclusions.Select one of the following 5 topics for your assignment: a) Vaccines. Your
friend is worried about the many vaccines that his newborn son is scheduled to receive and
asks you for advice since you are taking a biology course. Start with an explanation of how
vaccines work. Briefly contrast the traditional methods used to create vaccines with more
recently used biotechnology techniques, including the COVID 19 mRNA vaccines. Explain
how the mRNA vaccines work based on your knowledge of the Central Dogma of Molecular
Biology. What are some of the diseases that infants and children in the US are routinely
vaccinated against? How have vaccinations impacted the frequency of these diseases over
the past 100 years? Why are some people worried about giving their children vaccines?
Why do some people believe that the MRR vaccine can cause autism? Is there scientific
evidence to support these concerns? Conclude with advice to your friend in regard to
getting the recommended vaccines based on what you learned from reliable information
sources. b) Personal Genomics. Services like 23andMe and Ancestry have made it possible –
even popular – for the average person to obtain in-depth information about their genome,
including details like food allergies, drug sensitivities, and disease risks. There are even
add-on sites that will take this information and generate elaborate reports, such as
Promethease. Describe how this data is obtained, and what it actually includes. Start your
explanation with a basic description of DNA and how genes control our traits (the Central
Dogma). Use information from the course readings, at least one service provider (e.g.,
23&Me, Ancestry), and additional information resources. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this easy, rapid, and affordable access to genomic data? What are the

2. social implications, in terms of benefits and risks? Is Genome Privacy (restricting access to
an individual’s private genomic data) a potential issue, and if so, how? If you, or someone
you know, have had your own genome analyzed, discuss the thought process that led you
(or them) to do so, and share how you felt when you found your results. If you haven’t,
discuss why or why you would not want to have this information. c) Clustered Regularly
Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has been the most recent breakthrough
discovery in bioengineering that enables scientists to edit DNA. Because you have studied
biology in this course, you have volunteered at your niece’s Middle School Science Club to
monitor a student debate about CRISPR. The students will be watching the following video
before the discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=252&v=2pp17E4E-O8 You need to be
prepared in case there are any questions. Please research and write an answer to each of
the following questions: What is “CRISPR”? What role does Cas9 play in the CRISPR process?
How does the CRISPR-Cas9 system snip and replace any DNA sequence? What are the
potential benefits and drawbacks of gene editing? Include specific examples. Do you believe
that the inherent risks of modifying DNA are worth the rewards? Explain. Do you believe
that it is ethical to genetically engineer animals and humans? Explain. d)Bioprinting. Your
father has been on a waitlist for a new kidney for several years, but no match has been
found. You hear about bioprinting on the news and decide to do some research so you can
tell him about it. Start with an explanation of what bioprinting is, and how the process
works. Relate it to what you have learned about cells, tissues, and organs. What are the
benefits of bioprinting? What are the current challenges? What are stem cells and how can
they be used for bioprinting? What is bioink and how is it used for bioprinting? Include a
least two examples of current research in this field, and conclude with predictions for the
future. Finally, do you believe that your father could benefit from this technology in his
lifetime? e) Human-caused global climate change is the biggest environmental challenge we
are faced with today. Your aunt is a climate skeptic and you have decided to use your
understanding of science to explain to her why the earth’s climate is changing, describe the
major biological effects of climate change, and discuss how technology can be a solution to
this problem. You should start with a brief description of the greenhouse effect and how
carbon dioxide is a natural part of the carbon cycle. Then explain how our use of fossil fuels
is disrupting the carbon cycle and enhancing the greenhouse effect. You may want to look
ahead to the Week 7 readings for this information. What are the major ecological effects
associated with climate change? What are the human health concerns associated with
climate change? Describe at least one example of each. And finally, what can we do to
reduce our impact on the climate through technological innovation? Include a description of
a minimum of two technological solutions. Find at least five articles related to one of the
topics chosen from above. You can find assistance with searching for articles at the UMGC
Library Subject Guides at http://libguides.umgc.edu/science), Please review the UMGC
resource “Is My Source Credible?”
https://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/credibility.cfm. Note that WIKIPEDIA is not
considered a reliable source.Download the desktop version of PowerPoint on your
computer if you have not already. This is needed to add narration. All UMGC students can

3. download Office 365, including Power Point, for free: https://www.umgc.edu/help/help-
topic.cfm?title=Office-365-How-do-I-download-Office-to-a-Windows-PC-
Students&table=FAQ_IT__kav&action=getArticle **** You need to submit a narrated
PowerPoint presentation as a video and you can use whatever format you are comfortable
in, for example Zoom, Screencastify., Vimeo, Loom, YouTube (Instructions below). You may
also submit the MPEG4 file directly to the assignment folder, if not too large. Your
presentation should be in the range of 4 – 7 minutes **** IMPORTANT – In your assignment
folder you should submit 1) Your Video and 2) Your Speaker’s Notes Your presentation
should include the following: You should include the following sections in your
presentation: Purpose, Background, Discussion (in which you answer the questions of your
research topic) and Conclusion. List all references on the last slide of the
presentation.Include a title slide -presentation title, name, course, instructor, and due
date. Presentation information slides – suggested 8 – 15 slides (it is more important to
remain within the time range of the presentation – between 4 to 7 minutes). Do not
overload your slides, it is always best to identify the important points. Ideally, a slide should
have 6 – 7 bullets (maximum) and 6 – 8 words per bullet. Avoid full sentences. Presentation
font: You may use a larger font size for the titles (up to 40) and smaller for the content (not
smaller than 28) and 10 for references. Add images that contribute to the information that
you are sharing verbally. Add the URL to the website where you found an image, below each
image you use (small font is OK to make it less distracting) or include these in the reference
list at the end of the presentation. Below you will find a guide to create effective
presentations: https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/powerpoint-guidelines-design-
effective-presentations–cms-34595 Narrated PowerPoint instructions a. Write a script for
your narration for each slide in a Word document. It is OK if you do not strictly follow the
script when you narrate. b. Record your narration in Power Point. Go to Insert and click the
Audio icon (to the right in the editing bar), choose Record Audio… from the drop-down
menu. Click the red button to start your narration, then the blue button to stop. Check that
your recording is OK. You can delete a recording and start over, and you can also do some
minor editing by cutting off the start and/or end of the recording. Repeat for all the slides in
your presentation. You may want to move the narration icon that appears in the middle of
the slide to a corner. The following information is
helpful: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/add-audio-microsoft-powerpoint-
presentation/ c. Save as MPEG4 File. Once your narrated Power Point presentation is
completed, save it on your computer as a MPG4 file video by clicking File > Save > Choose
MPEG4 format from drop down menu. Creating the video will take a few minutes. You can
see a progress bar at the bottom. If you can submit this into your assignment folder, you
may stop here. Don’t forget to also post your Word Document with your “Speakers notes”.
d. Prepare Video (instructions for YouTube are given here, but you may use any other
method that you prefer). Upload to YouTube. Go to: https://www.youtube.com/ If you
already have a YouTube account, log in. If you do not have a YouTube account, create a free
account. Then go to https://www.youtube.com/upload . You can “Drag and drop” or click
“Select Files” to locate your narrated Power Point MPG4 file. The processing will take a few
minutes. You will need to click through a few pages of options. Most default settings are OK

4. but choose the Unlisted option for visibility (not public, not private). That way only people
that you provide the URL will be able to find and view your video. e. Submit the YouTube
link and the Word document with your narration in the assignment folder by the due date
listed in the syllabus.