It’s finals time at Boston University, and student science journalists here are hard at work calling researchers and reading journal articles. As a way to pay my classmates tribute, here is a special post showcasing some of their work this semester. Below are excerpts from controversy features about nanotechnology, pharmacrops and biometrics. If you’re a student and have a science story that you’re proud of, e-mail me, and we can post it here or on the visitor contributions page.
“The Promise (and Potential Perils) of Nanotechnology” by Lauren Rugani
Asbestos was once heralded as a miracle material, only to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Genetically modified foods were supposed to cure world hunger, but ended up creating the first artificial cancer. Now, as nanotechnology promises improved consumer products, potential cancer therapies and a cleaner global environment, should we take a hint from the past and abandon all efforts, or should we give this emerging technology the benefit of the doubt as it grows into a trillion dollar industry?
Nanotechnology has grown steadily over the past few decades, but has also faced questions about its unforeseen and unintended health and environmental consequences. Because nanoparticles are so small - on the scale of one billionth of a meter - most of the atoms sit at the surface and are able to interact with other materials better than their bulk counterparts. However, the unique physical and chemical properties that make them so useful are also cause for concern, since relatively little is known about their long-term effects. continue reading…
“Farming Drugs: Playing with Pharmacrops” by Nuño Dominguez
Paul Christou’s corn may look ordinary, but inside each kernel is an ingredient found in no other corn crop in the world.
Christou, an expert in plant biochemistry working at Lleida University in Spain, has tweaked the genes of his corn so it produces 2G12, an antibody that blocks HIV infection. The research is part of a European project to use genetically modified plants to generate inexpensive drugs that could help developing countries fight infectious diseases on their own. In the United States, other researchers are also using plants to develop easy-to-use vaccines with an eye on poor countries. The philosophy of the transgenic plant researchers is clear: why manufacture a drug, when you can grow it? continue reading….
“The New Lunch Money: The Business of Biometrics in Schools” by Jeff Meredith
It’s becoming much tougher for the class bully to steal your lunch money these days. Thousand of schools in the US now allow students to pay for their meals by simply placing their index finger on a fingerprint scanner: a cashless system. But the growing use of biometrics in cafeterias has many parents and civil libertarians worried about identity theft and violation of children’s privacy. And their voices are being heard as many states are either banning fingerprint scanning in schools or requiring parental consent.
Biometrics, physical or behavioral characteristics of a person that can be measured and used for identification, were once relegated to spy thriller movies and classified government installations. Now they’re being used in schools for a variety of purposes: recording attendance, preventing unauthorized building access, and managing the checkout of library books. But most schools focus upon speeding up lunch lines; the rationale is that students may lose their ID cards or forget PIN numbers and slow down a transaction, but they can’t forget their index finger. continue reading…
Earlier this month, I posted “Of Pests and Pesticides,” a video by me and my classmates on chemical-free pest control.