Carly+Gubernick

 "PEOPLE DO STUPID THINGS-- THAT'S WHAT SPREADS HIV"  -Elizabeth Pisani 

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Public health expert Elizabeth Pisani discusses statistics about the ways that HIV is spread and the ways in which the spread of HIV can slowed down.

After watching this video, I found it to be very interesting that an expert on this topic would publicize the above quote ("People do stupid thing-- that's what spreads HIV"). Not only did I find this to be surprising, but I also found it to be somewhat offensive to the HIV/AIDS community in that not all people affected with this virus where in control of the situation that lead to the contraction of this virus. While Pisani discussed these few extenuating circumstances, she focused more on the "stupidity" and poor decisions made by hosts of the virus. From other personal studies of HIV/AIDS, I have learned that many cases of the disease are contracted at the time of birth or from medical malpractice, meaning that the fate of the virus was never in the hands of the eventual host. This being said, the points made my Pisani help to //rationalize the decisions made by many who use contaminated needles and help to //rationalize  the reasons that many countries (including the US) have yet to jump on the bandwagon of complete virus protection that other nations have instated.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ON "SEX AND SCIENCE" FROM ELIZABETH PISANI: visit her [|blog] _  CRAIG VENTER AND THE SYNTHETIC CELL

"Either he [Craig Venter] is one of this era's most electrifying scientists, or he's one of the most maddening." -Washington Post media type="custom" key="6240989"

 Craig Venter, pioneer of genomics, discusses the creation and possible usefulness of Synthetic chromosomes, cells, and organisms.

Predicted Usages for Synthetic and Engineered Species: -Increase basic understanding of life -Replace petrol-chemical industry -Become a major source of energy -Enhance bioremediation -Drive antibiotic and vaccine discovery and production

Just two years after the publication of this video, Craig Venter's synthetic cell has officially been produced and able to be booted up for use. This cell, though it is the first of its kind, could ultimately be the start of many replicating species that can be used to enhance the ability of the Earth to maintain growing populations by allowing for more purified water, oil, and resources to be formed and maintained. I find it to be extraordinary that humans were able to, through knowledge and intelligence, create an entirely new and replicating species via computers. This being said, I also find it to be relatively frightening to think that, if technological speciation advances evolutionarily like natural life, that in the relatively near future the earth could be inhabited by a fair amount of species that were born from "computer-parents."

WANT TO READ MORE? [|Check out this article!] DID YOU KNOW? 4.0 media type="youtube" key="6ILQrUrEWe8" width="425" height="350"

Ever since we viewed the prequel to this video (did you know? 3.0) in class, I have been very affected by the information that was presented in the video. Interested in the topic, I looked up and watched these videos on multiple occasions over the past few weeks. Each time I view these, it strikes me more and more how much of an impact technology will have on the future. It is additionally striking that technology has even allowed researchers to come up with these statistics because, in decades past, statistics were not able to be formulated to present possible technological advances as they had not even been imagined by the human mind. The speed with which technology has advanced thus far has been mind-boggling to engineers and to the population as a whole. More shocking than this, however, is the fact that these engineers will eventually be producing technology that will have a higher capacity for knowledge and production than does the sum of the entire human population. This fact frightens me because from this idea question arises, will technology eventually take over the world as the dominant "species" over humans? As frightening as this idea seems, I believe that the first synthetic cell (see above video) is the first real proof that, technolgy truly does have the capacity to overtake the human race in dominance on Earth.