During the discussion, I found CRISPR​ to be really interesting technology on how it can generate and edit genes and how this can change someones life. Before the discussion in class today I had no idea that there was such a thing. So I did more research on my own and found this video that was about CRISPR and thought was helpful. 

    As we discussed last class, technologies such as CRISPR are becoming more and more accessible to the general population. Because of this, gene editing and gene modification will become more and more prominent in the near future. But CRISPR is not the only type of tool in which we use technology to enhance and better our lives.

 In this post, I attempt to consider some of the common fears people have toward human alteration.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lwcOpOXb1DPcVIS5rkkMc-2I4jFtxbf/view?usp=sharing

In Melbourne, Australia, 13 birds, descendants of the common rock-pigeon have been brought to life. They have the Cas9 gene embedded into their genomic properties, which will be passed on from each generation to generation. The common rock pigeon has been extinct until that moment.

CRISPR technology, we discussed during the class, was one of the most interesting technologies that can generate and manipulate genes, or gene editing. Through this system, the virus can be removed or can extend one’s life. Ethical concerns are brought up as CRISPR is able to alter human genomes. Even though it is not influential to certain types of cells and tissues, it has a possibility to change egg and sperm cells. This allows altering human’s basic traits, such as height or intelligence (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

             I found the topic of last class to be extraordinarily interesting in regards to learning about CRISPR (Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) gene editing technology. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is compared to a pair of molecular scissors, allowing for the precise cut of a particular strand or piece of DNA. It has established an entirely new realm of science: genome engineering.

Here are some of the resources that were talked about yesterday! 

• FUNGI, BACTERIA, AND CONSTRUCTION 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ydprAxlD5l1yszgAo4ja4v4QXXflxUh2NwNcmQMBwMM/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we visited the ArtSci installation entitled, The Noise Aquarium. Entering the simulated experience was extremely intense. The noises were very loud and the screen was eerie. The experience was also interactive for its audience as a person could step on a pad and balance to better understand noise pollution and micro plastics that flood the ocean. The entire set-up was very immersive and almost surreal. I could tell a lot of work had been put in to really affect the viewer as they entered.

Like all things encased in science there tends to be a devotion amongst its believers to follow epochs of fantasy and in the science of Genetic engineering it is no different. From the beginning of time fiction has been delving into what it means to manipulate the makeup of our human species in alignment with its cause to make something for which it feels obligated to perfect. The ancient myths even allow for the mutations of other species to be elevated as god forms each within there specific canons.

While dealing with ideas of noise pollution in the ocean I came across a couple of interesting articles revolving around sound and water. The first is a recent development where Stanford scientists successfully created the loudest possible sound in water (1). This was a sound that reached over 270 decibels! The reason that this is the loudest sound possible is that at this high of amplitude, the pressure breaks down the medium of water itself and it instantly vaporizes. Previously the loudest sound made was in air, which could only reach around 194 decibels.

The UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab organized the Sound + Science Symposium at the California NanoSystems Institute