Q.No. 12
How food production is increased tremendously due to biological advances?
Answer:
Man owes his current high standard of living to biological advances in two main areas:
1). Food production.
2). Disease control.
FOOD PRODUCTION:
Food production has been tremendously increased in the following way:
a) Plant Breeding: Plant breeders have developed new varieties of organisms through selective breeding that provides better sources of food than the original varieties.
b) Animal Breeding: Animal breeders also have had great success. The chicken, cow, sheep of today are much different animals from those available one hundred years ago. Poultry breeders have developed broilers for getting quick and cheap white meat.
c) Food Preservation: Different techniques of food preservation have been developed for protecting food from spoilage and for use and transport over long distances without damaging its quality. One of them is Pasteurization developed by Louse Pauster. It is being widely used for preservation of milk and milk products.
d) Control of Competitors: Much of the improvement in food production has resulted from the control of plants and animals that compete with or eat the organisms we use as food.
e) Biological Control: Control of insects and fungi that weaken plants and reduce yields is as important as the invention of new varieties of plants. The biological control is a very important type of control as it does not involve any toxicity problems for the human beings nor it make the insects resistant to the to means of control. In biological control the pests are controlled by letting them be eaten by their predators.
Q.No. 13
How biology helped us in the control of Human diseases?
DISEASE CONTROL:
There has been fantastic progress in the area of health and disease control in three ways.
1. Vaccination/Immunization
2.Preventive measures
3. Drugs treatment/Gene therapy
1. PREVENTIVE MEASURES:
The advances in biological sciences have provided us information about the causative agents of the disease and their mode of transmission.
Example 1: AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Disease) is caused by HIV virus and it spreads through free sexual contact, through blood transfusion, by using contaminated syringes or surgical instruments etc. Therefore doctors advise us to take precaution on these fronts so that we do not contact the disease, which is at present incurable.
Example 2: Hepatitis is caused by Hepatitis virus, which spreads through blood transfusion by using contaminated syringes and surgical instruments. In this case also doctors advise us to be careful and avoid the point of contact.
2. VACCINATION / IMMUNIZATION:
Many diseases such as polio, whooping cough, measles, mumps etc can be easily controlled by vaccination or "shots". Discovery of Vaccines: first developed the technique of vaccination in 1795. Cowpox pus is known as vacca. From this word evolved the present term vaccination and vaccine Jenner developed this technique from the observation that milkmaids developed pox like sores after milking cow infected with cowpox but they rarely become sick with small pox. He developed the hypothesis that the mild reaction milkmaids had to cowpox, protected them from the fatal small pox Following the development of germ theory of disease, it was discovered that viruses that are very similar in structure cause cowpox and small pox. Exposure to the cowpox virus allows the body to develop immunity against the cowpox virus and the small pox virus at the same time. From there an inoculation or vaccination is carried out to make the people immune from the intending degree of their being exposed to the virus or bacteria at the time of epidemics or in some diseases. The individuals are vaccinated in their early life to make them immune to those diseases. It is claimed that small pox has been totally eliminated from Pakistan by using this method. Scientists are making continues efforts to develop vaccine against all these diseases.
3. DRUG TREATMENT/GENE THERAPY:
If a person becomes sick with disease, he is subjected to the action of antibiotics, which can kill bacteria. The antibiotics are, however, useful in only bacterial disease and that when it has not developed reaction to antibiotics. In certain disease like cancer, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are applied.
Radiotherapy:
In radiotherapy, the cancerous part is exposed to short wave radiations from the radioactive material repeatedly at regular intervals. In Pakistan there are several centers, which can carry out radiotherapy to control cancer.
Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy consists of administrating certain anticancer chemicals to the patients at regular intervals.
Why it's done
Chemotherapy is employed to kill cancer cells in people with cancer.
There are a spread of settings during which chemotherapy could also be utilized in people with cancer:
To cure the cancer without other treatments. Chemotherapy can be used as the primary or sole treatment for cancer.
After other treatments, to kill hidden cancer cells. Chemotherapy are often used after other treatments, like surgery, to kill any cancer cells which may remain within the body. Doctors call this adjuvant therapy.
To prepare you for other treatments. Chemotherapy are often wont to shrink a tumor in order that other treatments, like radiation and surgery, are possible. Doctors call this neoadjuvant therapy.
To ease signs and symptoms. Chemotherapy may help relieve signs and symptoms of cancer by killing some of the cancer cells. Doctors call this palliative chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy for conditions other than cancer
Some chemotherapy drugs have proved useful in treating other conditions, such as:
Bone marrow diseases:
Diseases that affect the bone marrow and blood cells could also be treated with a bone marrow transplant, also referred to as a somatic cell transplant. Chemotherapy is usually wont to steel oneself against a bone marrow transplant.
Immune system disorders:
Lower doses of chemotherapy drugs can help control an overactive system in certain diseases, like lupus and atrophic arthritis .
Gene Therapy:
Gene therapy repairs the defective gene. This consists of changing the normal gene and inserting it into the host through bone marrow cells.
Integrated Disease Management:
Combating of disease by utilizing all methods requires the participation of community. This program is known as integrated disease management. This requires an awareness of the community about the severity of the problem, its causes and its remedies. This is a very effective program for elimination and control of the dangerous disease from the human society.
0 Comments