domingo, 6 de janeiro de 2008

Eating healthy food by Mariana Melo

We can be unhealthy vegetarian or vegan, but doctors agree that vegetarians/vegans stand a much better chance of living longer, healthier lives than those who eat meat. Healthy vegetarian diets support a lifetime of good health and provide protection against numerous diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, strokes. As long as you're eating a balanced diet, you should not expect any health problems.
On this pyramid, if we consume a wide variety of that foods, we will get the necessary nutrients and other substances that promote good health.

Dolly The Sheep, by Marta Gonçalves


As we know, Dolly (a sheep) in the image, was cloned. It's the most famous case of cloning.
Cloning is an ethical issue that is subject to different opinions. First of all, I think that cloning should be forbidden in certain cases, because probably clones can feel and suffer like humans or animals and it could be terrible for clones and for the person or animal that was cloned. However, cloning could be great for medicine in order to save lives through bone marrow or other types of stuffs from our body.
I expect that this issue will be improved to benefit anyone in need.

quinta-feira, 3 de janeiro de 2008

Cloning

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something.
In biology, it refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The term also encompasses situations whereby organisms reproduce asexually.
Sometimes cloning is used at animals (like Dolly the Sheep the first successfully cloned mammal) like the reproductive cloning used at endangered species and therapeutic cloning with medical purposes.
There also exists the Human cloning that is the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing or previously existing human. There are two commonly discussed types of human cloning: therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning like the cloning done at the animals.
Human cloning is among the most controversial forms of the practice.




The immage is about one think that I mencioned before, the Reproductive Cloning used at endangered species.
This type of cloning was developed to help the growth of the populations in risks of extinction.
Maybe in ten years the generations will be almost formed by cloned animals, in the case of some species.

quarta-feira, 2 de janeiro de 2008

Genetic Manipulation and GMO

Before I start commenting my picture, I think that is important for you, and for me too, to know more about Genetic Manipulation, so I’m going towrite a text about it first, explaning what is genetic Manipulation, and then, I’ll coment my picture.
Genetic manipulation consists in the genes’s manipulation. It envolves the DNA’S manipulation. The main point of genetic manipulation is to introduce new characteristics in a certain organism, to make it more useful.
Nowadays, genetic manipulation is used to make genetically modified organism (GMO) that are organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The main uses of GMO’s are Trangenic Animals and Plants.


Transgenic animals are used as experimental models to perform phenotypic tests with genes whose function is unknown or to generate animals that are susceptible to certain compounds or stresses for testing in biomedical research.


Transgenic plants have been developed for various purposes: resistance to pests, herbicides or harsh environmental conditions; improved shelflife; increased nutritional value - and many more.
Genetic manipulation and Trangenics are very polemic issues because many people say that they’re dangerous and prejudicial to our health.


This image is a critique to Transgenic plants, and the effects that it can have in people. This image is also a critique to the scientists, who do that kind of experiences. The truth is that GMO can be very dangerous to our health because they’re content chemicals, and they’re DNA was changed in an unnatural way. I’ve searched in the web all I could about GMO and I’ve discovered that it can be very dangerous. And this picture shows us two important disavantages: The first one is allergys that GMO can cause in humam beings, that could be the reason why our scientist on the picture is red like a tomato. And he is right that’s “bad news” because GMO’s can provide antibiotic resistance to the bacteriums, which means that when you eat transgenic food, those chemicals that GMO’s have, are giving straight to the bacteriums that can make you ill. So, if you get ill, it will be more difficult to you be alright again.
by :Cátia Viana