During the last class, primarily, our group was targeted with a thought-provoking question of whether we would want to live forever. In my opinion being able to live forever would be a privilege; a privilege that would allow me to have a choice of whether I was done living my life or wanted to live on (possible forever). Many issues and concerns were brought up against my response, including overpopulation and/or resource scarcity. Due to the lack of time we could not have a full discussion on the issue and hopefully we will have enough time tomorrow to finish what we have started.
FQ: T/F. There is as much biomass in the subsurface of the Earth as in the entire visible world.
(T) p182
FQ: What are some key producers of genetic mutations?
(oxygen and UV) p.181.
FQ: What makes phages a possible alternative to anti-bacterial disease?
(their specificity for the targeted bacterial culture)
DQ: Do you agree with a quote made by Claude Bernard that was used by Ventor in the Acknowledgments section of his book, ''Art is I; science is We?''
link: http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/tardigrade/index.html
This link talks about one of the most durable animals that we know of: tardigrades. Animals like these make the theory of panspermia more plausible.
Yes, let's talk some more about life extension as well as the concluding chapters on humanity's extended presence (courtesy of digital teleportation etc.) in the cosmos. I'm always surprised when I hear a young and healthy person say they don't want to live a lot more than four-score. Bored with life?
ReplyDeleteI would love to live for ever or at least for a thousand years. Maybe by then we would also know how to remove the sensation of boredom so we would lack wanting to die because of boredom. Something I thought about the other day was that making someone stay alive could be used as a punishment too. There is definitely more to talk about.
ReplyDeleteFQ: What method is used to speed up the identification and distribution of the seed viruses?
ReplyDeleteA: Reverse Vaccinology (P. 167)
FQ: What are the 2 basic ways in which Influenza viruses change/evolve?
A: Antigenic drift and antigenic shift (P. 169)
FQ: What do some microbes use to eject the antibiotic out of itself before the drug has time to act?
A: Efflux Pump (P.171)