Essay on "Natural Science Concepts"

Essay 3 pages (1019 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Natural Science Concepts

PART 1-Scientific Concept

One specific scientific phenomenon for which our understanding has changed over time based on new knowledge / learning / information / understanding is represented by genetics. This discipline, just like the names suggests it, is the science of the genes. It analyzes heredity and various problems that the human organism (and not only) might encounter. Taking a look at the development of this science, it is clear to see that the information available in the sector now differs tremendously from what people knew during the antiquity for example. The difference in terms of quality of the available knowledge is huge even compared to just fifty years ago. From this we deduce that the discipline develops together with the other aspects of society, such as the technological one. In the 1800s people had very little interest in genetics. They suspected that certain traits which people showed were inherited from their parents who had inherited them from their parents, etc., but there was little information regarding the how and why. As people came to know more, they became capable of asking themselves more questions regarding the issue, such as "how could we use genetic information to cure diseases?," "is it possible to improve our condition?," "can we stay young for longer?" And eventually "can we create other beings in the lab?"

Example number 1. George Mendel was the first researcher in the field to discover that people could actually know the characteristics that the successors of a living entity would have. In the 1800s, it was generally believed that the environment plays a fundamental role upon the development of the living things. Mendel found some plants in his environment that he considered to be unusual. He took them and planted them right next to the common ones. He observed that the neighborhood did not affect the characteristics of the offspring and this is how the idea of heredity was born. This revolutionary discovery changed the manner in which people lived, since they knew where to look for the causes of certain phenomena.

Example number 2. In the 20th century, Watson and Crick's work provided humanity with the possibility to know the structure of DNA. This represented a huge step from the researcher previously discussed. The new discovery allowed people t understand how and why diseases were born. Furthermore, knowing that allowed them to create proper medicine to cure those diseases. Understanding that individuals are different because they have a different genetic inheritance changed the vision on how a person with health conditions ought to be treated. Nowadays, diseases which were untreatable 80 years ago are treatable thanks to this discovery.

Example number 3. A third example which illustrates the manner in which knowledge and understanding develop through time is represented by the Human Genome project. Among the purposes of the project we could mention the intention to "identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA" and to "determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA" (www.ornl.gov). These… READ MORE

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