Biotechnology: Buyer Beware

I was looking for botany professionals around Ajerogun, Nigeria and came across the following biotechnology course description:
"The Easy Way 101 ( CRN: 10023 )

"Only those big, stupid countries invest tons of money into biotechnology. We'll show you how to take their technology and sell it back to them. Ever received an email for Viagra or Propecia? It most likely came from one of our graduates. "

Here's the link information:

http://universityofnigeria.com/courses.htm

I am sure that this is some sort of hoax, but, it tells you, watch out!
As you read the course descriptions, you'll realize that these courses are teaching people hoaxes and scams. Please, watch out!
Other courses they offer are similar to this one:
"Texan Hickbilly Business Strategies 302 ( CRN: 95834 )

"We got a lot of them coming and going. With the price of oil and gasoline soaring in the United States, we now have more Texan oil diggers coming to Abuja than Texas has living in their own state. Once viewed as a threat to our economy and ways, we can now teach how to harness your energies to overpower these overweight Texan millionaires. From the classic gang jump to other less obvious tactics, you will quickly learn how to maintain a competitive advantage over these folks."

Here is another item they post:

"I never realized how easy it is to make money while sitting behind a computer and fax machine. You people were right on the money! Every day I sent between 10 to 50 million emails asking for people to help me transfer funds into their accounts so that one day I can live a happy and cheerful life like them. When they respond, I use my special training that I learned from University of Nigeria to make around $10,000 to $30,000 off each person willing to help. Good thing those British and Americans don't know about this business opportunity yet. I am ranking in the cash thanks to the University of Nigeria. Thanks again for such a wonderful program."

We all know we have to be careful on the web, and with junk mail. I hope these quotes from the listed website show you why. Please note there are good and bad people everywhere. Watch out for the tricksters.

Meanwhile, I have serious readers from Nigeria interested in learning botany.

Link to the World of Microbes

http://www.microbeworld.org/microbes/

MICROORGANISMS

Are you learning by doing?

http://www.microbeworld.org/resources/experiment/pgs11-13.pdf

Hot Topics: Protein Assessments

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20070128589.html

Science in the News/Science you can use

Autism gene

Visualizing DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid = DNA= the hereditary chemical in living things

Sauerkraut Science (Post under development)

Sauerkraut Science
What has sauerkraut got to do with science?
Here is a lesson about picking a science fair topic.

(Not doing science fair ? Just want a good read? Read the link at the end of this post.)

Pick something you are interested in or that you can afford to use. Then, look for the science related to that item. Okay, we've selected sauerkraut, just to prove that almost any topic can become a subject of science study.

Brainstorm: What about sauerkraut has to do with science? What does your topic have to do with science?

Do a Literature Search:
Here's a sampling of literature found on sauerkraut. Do a search on your own topic.

• Books

1. Chemical Activities (Teacher's Addition) Christie L. Borgford and Lee R. Summerlin. ISBN13:97808412163 ISBN10:0841214166 paper. 244 pages.
2. Traditionally Fermented Foods http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1939
   

• Newspapers and Magazines
• Journals

1. Food Chemistry: Changes in biogenic amine concentrations during sauerkraut storage. Volume 69, Issue 3, 15 May 2000, Pages 309-314
   doi:10.1016/S0308-8146(99)00273-3 Copyright © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
2. Leuconostoc sp. strains: aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/68/6/2877
3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/fstl.1996.0055
   

• Internet

1. Fermented Foods
2. Lactic Acid Bacteria
3. Microbiology
4. Create Sauerkraut (commercial kit)
5. Create sauerkraut (the old-fashioned way)
6. http://www.genkifoods.com/faq.html (commercial site)
7. DNA Fingerprinting in Sauerkraut?
   

Define a problem: "Do different amounts of salt affect the final product," or, "Do spices change the ability of the cabbage to be fermented?"

Brainstorm again:

Select a question from among your brainstormed ideas:

Write an experimental design:

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods (future tense)
• Blank data table
• Literature Cited

Set up the Experiment

Perform the Experiment

Collect Data

Analyze Data

Think about the Experiment and Future Experiments it suggests

Write a Laboratory Report:

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods (Past Tense)
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusions
• Literature Cited
  

Write a Reflection

• What did you do well?
• What did you learn?
• Do you have something to publish?
• Do you have ideas for another experiment?
• What can you do to improve your science fair experience next time?
  

Here's a wintertime story on sauerkraut that you might enjoy: http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/old_mother_hubbard__s_sauerkraut_soup

(c)2007, 2008 J. S. Shipman

Research at Botanic Gardens: Highlight on the Biotechnology Research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

http://data.kew.org/cvalues/homepage.html

What is an herbarium?

Can you guess what an herbarium is based on the word? Do you see, "herb," in it? Check the definition of herbarium here.

Here is a link to the herbarium at Iowa State University. It is called the Ada Hayden Herbarium.
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~herbarium/

The herbarium is named after Dr. Ada Hayden. Who is this person?
"1918 Ada Hayden receives a Ph.D.; she is the first woman to receive a Ph.D. at Iowa State College." Read more...

There are people behind herbaria. I had the opportunity to work in the herbarium at Iowa State. As a graduate student, I had a wonderful opportunity to work in the Ada Hayden herbarium. I worked with Dr. Richard W. Pohl, a specialist in grasses (like wheat and timothy), and, Dr. Duane Isley, a specialist in legumes (like peas and beans). Dr. Isley hired me on a graduate fellowship to work there. I used to label the herbarium sheets and check for errors in identification. I also sent out specimens and filed returned specimens. As a result, I learned many plants and talked with exciting people.

When you go outside and see green, do you know all the plants? Would you like to know what they are? How can you tell?

Plant specimens can be used as an aid in difficult plant identifications, as can molecular biology. Here is a link to an herbarium sheet:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/%7Eherbarium/liatris.html

A special group of botanists, called plant taxonomists, learn how to identify different plants. They use herbaria for research, as well as field work , and can use molecular biology, too.
The American Society of Plant Taxonomists has a link to several herbaria:
http://www.aspt.net/databases/

Here is a link on biotechnology in plant identification:
http://www.aspt.net/databases/characters.php

Here is another link to what an herbarium is. The digital collections of the Harvard University Herbaria can be found here: http://www.huh.harvard.edu/collections/digital_resources.html.

Are you an inventor?

If you are an inventor, or want to become one, recordkeeping is important. Check out this website on logbooks for inventors:

http://inventors.about.com/cs/logbook/ht/Log_book.htm

TGA Ter [end]

What does the genetic code have in common with your phone number? Well, the title of this blog post might give you an idea. Say your phone number was 617-000-0000 (fake number). If you put an extra number, say 2, for example, into your phone number, what would happen?

Examples:
261-700-00000 Wrong number
621-700-00000 Wrong number
612-700-00000 Wrong number
617-200-00000 Wrong number
617-020-00000 Wrong number
617-002-00000 Wrong number
617-000-20000 Wrong number
617-000-02000 Wrong number
617-000-00200 Wrong number
617-000-00020 Wrong number
617-000-00002 Connection

Out of all the possible numbers resulting from adding an extra, "2," only one results in a connection to you.

A simplification of the genetic code can help you understand what happens or can happen, when the code is disrupted. Think about this for a while. I'll come back and add some more. Remember to use the title for a clue: TGA Ter [end].

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman. All rights reserved.

Biotechnology and Nobel Prizes

The Eye of the Donkey game teaches PCR Method. I was surprized at how much the students loved this game. They also said they answered questions on the state final exam correctly because of the game. You might want to read more before you play the game, to improve your chances of winning!!!

Find teacher resources by clicking this link.

For more educational games based 0n Nobel Prize-winning ideas, click here.

Biotech for K-12: Insulin

On-line study of insulin
Animated U-tube Movie on insulin