web questions
The field of biology is constantly changing as new discoveries are made each day. Through this assignment you will have an opportunity to learn about an aspect of cutting-edge biology.
Please find a popular science article relating to a topic that we have/will cover in class this semester. The article can come from a newspaper (ex: New York Times/LA Times Science section), a magazine, a popular science magazine (ex: Scientific American) or an online science news website – see list below for some useful links.
The article must have been published within the last three months and you cannot submit an article that has already been submitted by another person. You will want to check the posts to make sure that no one else has submitted your article.
Some useful online science news websites:
Science News: www.sciencenews.org (Links to an external site.)
Scientific American: www.scientificamerican.com (Links to an external site.)
Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/ (Links to an external site.)
Discover Magazine: www.discovermagazine.com (Links to an external site.)
Nature: www.nature.com (Links to an external site.)
New Scientist: www.newscientist.com (Links to an external site.)
Science Online: www.sciencemag.org (Links to an external site.)
National Geographic Daily News: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/latest-stories/ (Links to an external site.)
Science Daily: www.sciencedaily.com (Links to an external site.)
LA Times Science Section: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/ (Links to an external site.)
New York Times Science Section: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html (Links to an external site.)
Instructions for completing this assignment:
After reading the article, submit the following:
1. A link to the article.
2. A brief summary of the article. (In other words, prove to me that you read it.)
3. A brief explanation of how this article relates to the course material.
4. What you learned by reading the article.
Please submit these four items in this discussion board forum.
Here is an example of what I’m looking for:
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150729142136.htm (Links to an external site.)
- Scientists have genetically modified a strain of rice by adding a transcription factor gene from the plant species barley. This transcription factor protein turns on other genes that cause the rice plant to store more starch in grains versus in roots (more food energy) and to release less methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This project took more than 10 years to complete and involved collaboration between scientists in three different countries.
- This article relates to the course because it gives a real life example of the use of genetic engineering to create a transgenic organism.
- I learned that GMO projects can take a long time to complete and may require collaboration by many scientists.