Bright Minds 2006

2006-08-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

Well Dave asked if we could post something about the internship a few days later so here I am.

I learned more than most people could believe from this program. I absolutly hated the idea of taking a biology class or anything of the sort through out highschool because I didn't want to learn about bacteria and all of the more dull topics yet I ended up doing my project on bacteria. I pretty much knew nothing about biology before this project and all of our field visits and the research I did I learned more than I believe any class I take will teach me, well atleast the stuff thats worth knowing :).

2006-07-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

I sent my presentation to Sam, JT, and Dave. I was going to send it to Clay but I can not find his new email. We're going to have to put all the presentations together tomorrow or something :/

2006-07-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well seems everyone has been on vacation this week. I'v been out of town at my dads since sunday and we've been gone most of the day time. So today is the first time I'v been able to sit at a computer longer then 10 minutes. My presentation is done. I got it done before I left for my dads.

I also notice that I set a few of my posts as drafts and didn't actually publish them.

2006-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am done with my presentation and now I dont know what to do so i guess i will just work on wording and grammer.

2006-07-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

I wish you, the group, well on your presentation. I am confident you will do a fine job.
I regret that I will be out of the state during your presentation.
None-the-less, consider: (1) what are the key ideas of your presentation, (2) what are are some applications at the present time, (3) what small changes may have large outcomes later, and (4) what you have learned.

They key to success both on an individual level and product level, ethanol for example, is to be able to learn to reinvent, reapply basic principles, and see over arching patterns. I wish you well as you continue your education and I invite you to stop by the office/email trail and let me know how things are going.

2006-07-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

Thought you might be interested. . . .

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/84/8429chromatin.html

Cover Story
July 17, 2006
Volume 84, Number 29
pp. 13-18
Pulling Genes' Strings
Genes would be hardly more than molecular dead weight if not for the 'epigenetic' context that turns them on and off

"DNA carries the information that defines who you are," says Allan C. Spradling of the Carnegie Institution of Washington's embryology department in Baltimore. "But the use of that information, as you grow in utero and become a human being or any kind of animal with more than one cell, relies on chromatin."

2006-07-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

Blogging early Have to do a presentation for Upward bound from 11-1. soo ill be on skype on and off. im finishing my PPT i changed some slides and words they didnt fit. so ive changed it some now im getting backgrounds and other things to make it look cool.

2006-07-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Got some nice tips and such for my power point I'm pretty much done. Haven't been spending to much time on it but I'm almost done.

2006-07-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

I worked on my power Point today almost all the way done just have to make it look cool. I jave all of my slides done and saved in three places so i wont lose it...again. I have to have it finished tomorrow for Upward Bound to show so ill try and get it done in the morning.

2006-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Just working on my power point for tomorrow.

2006-07-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

My power point is going good now and I think that I will be all done by the time we meet tomarrow except for some wording and maybe some background changes. See you all tomarrow.

2006-07-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Chris Skory is at the Ag Lab.
Dr. Keith Johnson is at Bradley "Johnson, Keith"
Dave Burns email: Dave Burns

2006-07-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well I have been working on my power point and I think that I may have to many slides when I get finished with it, I think that I have 6 currently

2006-07-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

Going alont with clay my PPT is going slow but good. i have about 6 slides done. working on it more tomrorow and sunday to get it done and shoe you all on the 11th.

2006-07-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am working on my power point and it is going kind of slow but it is getting closer. I have been e-mailing Dr. Skory from Bradely College and he has given he alot of information and cleared some things up for me. And i need your e-mail address Dave so i can send you that DNA intro page so you can clean it up a bit.

2006-07-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

Good work yesterday, Thurs July 6th. You are heading in the right direction.

2006-07-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Did a bit more research on the by-products of biomass and the genetically engineered bacteria used to break it down into ethonal but couldn't find much I hadn't seen already. Powerpoint is meh... maybe I'l make a flash thing dunno.

2006-07-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

Why are we still useing gasoline? This doesnt make any sense.

2006-07-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading about how genes from bacteria are inserted into plants to make them hold more sugars. These sugars in change help the plants develop strands of platsic molecules in the plants. By doing this we can cut the use of petroleum for platics completely. In the long run this could help us greatly but it will take time to see how every plant is going to work out for this.

2006-07-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

Don't have much to update. The powerpoint has been coming along nicely. Couldn't get my custom backgrounds to load for some reason I'l mess with those at another time. I should actually be done by next monday.

Not many people on these morning but then again its the 4th of July vacation time.

2006-07-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I spent some time today and saturday looking more into gene therapy, mostly into the delivery of the gene into the genome. There are various methods using different "vectors", such as viral based one such as retroviruses (viruses that have RNA , ribonucleic acid, instead of DNA) and adrenoviruses which have double stranded DNA (we are familiar with this virus because they cause colds.) There are also non-viral vectors such as injecting raw DNA and liposheres (plasmids of DNA inserted into a lipid-based packet).

Here is a usefull link on gene therapy from the University of Utah
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/genetherapy/

2006-07-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

I am narrowing my field down to plants used for nonfoods. Things like altering corn for products. Not just corn though like they showed us at the ag lab. using other plants too for those kinds of items. If any of you dont understand this message me and I will do more of an explanation for you.

2006-07-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. . .

Think about the experts you have listened to. . .notice the questions they ask and how they approach a "problem."
What kind of approach was used? What kind of evidence is needed to say that __________causes_________________.
We know this is valid information because_____________________.
We may be able to test for_______________by____________________.

Clay. . .congratuations. You are a participant/leader, a position that I had when working with teachers and faculty at Bradley some years ago.
The information gained should lead to many good ideas!

2006-07-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone enjoyed the visit to the AG Lab in Peoria, the Morton Crime Lab and the Biology Department at Bradley University. I think it got some of the students thinking about a career in Biotechnology! We'll see.
Now we have to narrow down our study and start preparing for the presentation to the CSC Board on July 27th. The team picked Clay Larson to be their leader in the presentation. Congratulations to Clay!
The team will also have some hands-on products to show during the presentation. This year's program has gone really well with tons of great information on Biotechnology.

2006-06-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

The trip yesterday gave me some more ideas on what information to look for such a genetically engineered bacteria to clean up oil spills and such. Before hand I was just focusing on their use in ethonal. I almost with my presentation could be longer then 3 minutes :/

2006-06-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays trip was informative and I enjoyed it. Today I spent some time reading and reviewing how genes work because it has been a long time since I had biology. Here is the link to the site

http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/genetics/chapter1.html#

2006-06-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays trip was very very helpful to the project for me. I especially enjoyed the Ag lab. Im trying to look more now to see what plants are the easiest to be gentically engineered. Trying to get more narrow with it. Sorry I could not be on today i went to St. Ambrose with Upward Bound. Pretty cool college.

2006-06-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

I think that yesterdays trip was very interesting. I have been looking into the process that people use to make genetically engineered animals and i think that i finally understand how they do it. I think that they take a embryo and insert the gene through gene splicing with emzymes and then add the new DNA and it bonds where the old DNA was. I have already found alot of examples of engineered animals and the uses of them like mice with certain genes missing that fight cancer so scientists can see how cancer grows and learn of new ways to fight it. But other than that i cant really think of what else i am going to talk about.

2006-06-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys. . .
Dr. Alexander told me that she enjoyed meeting you. Also she sent some comments which I will paste below.
Have a good day.

I was thinking of responding to the corn density/sugars question

> "This is certainly a good research thought. Traditional corn breeders have
> already been increasing the density of corn per acre and, if you'll look at a
> corn field, the stalks grow close together and the leaves are more upright now
> than they used to be. Can you increase the amount of sugars in the corn?
> Again, breeders have been doing this, but they have been working on increasing
> the starch content, because that has been the commodity in demand. If you
> want to make ethanol out of an agricultural product, might it not be better to
> use something like sugar cane that already produces a fermentable sugar? That
> way, you wouldn't have to introduce the cost of using enzyme conversions. Can
> you engineer corn to produce glucose or sucrose? What an exciting idea! What
> do you think?"

2006-06-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

For the use of fuel is there a good solid way to make the corn grow closer together and produce more sugars?

2006-06-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Genetic engineering has been going on for a long time. Mendel crossed pea plants. Before him, people grew plants and selected the best of the crop. The difference now is that we can look at the Chromosomes, Genes, and DNA.
There is controversey because because we don't think of hybrid corn as genetically engineered.

I suggest you keep on reading/investigating. . .it won't be long and you'll know how much to "narrow" the topic.

2006-06-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been looking more into the topic of gene therapy and its applications. I have found that there are many cons to this process. For example, if they use a virus-based delivery system to introduce the DNA they run the risk of a immune response and server reactions which could result in death. There is also the problem of getting the virus to the target cells and not interfering with the other parts of the body. There is also the problem that many disorders are caused by mutations in many genes which would make it harder to repair than single gene problems. The worst problem is that when the virus gets into a human body it may regain the ability to cause disease.

There are also other methods for therapy, one of them being that involves the creation of an artificial lipid sphere with an aqueous core. This liposome, which carries the therapeutic DNA, is capable of passing the DNA through the target cell's membrane. There is also the direct injection into the tissue but that is limited to specific tissues and requires large amounts of DNA.

Researchers also are experimenting with introducing a 47th (artificial human) chromosome into target cells. This chromosome would exist autonomously alongside the standard 46 --not affecting their workings or causing any mutations. It would be a large vector capable of carrying substantial amounts of genetic code, and scientists anticipate that, because of its construction and autonomy, the body's immune systems would not attack it. A problem with this potential method is the difficulty in delivering such a large molecule to the nucleus of a target cell.

2006-06-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Currently, up to 45 percent of U.S. corn is genetically engineered as is 85 percent of soybeans. It has been estimated that 70-75 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves--from soda to soup, crackers to condiments--contain genetically engineered ingredients.
A number of studies over the past decade have revealed that genetically engineered foods can pose serious risks to humans, domesticated animals, wildlife and the environment. Human health effects can include higher risks of toxicity, allergenicity, antibiotic resistance, immune-suppression and cancer. As for environmental impacts, the use of genetic engineering in agriculture could lead to uncontrolled biological pollution, threatening numerous microbial, plant and animal species with extinction, and the potential contamination of non-genetically engineered life forms with novel and possibly hazardous genetic material. >http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/geneticall7.cfm
I was reading a study today that said that Ge foods are only tested on lab mice and are not tested on any other animal or human to see the effects of them. The only thing I dont get is that we have been eating GE foods for atleast 5 years and Im not seeing anyone taking them completely off the shelves....? From these studies it says 85% are Ge foods in stores. Who knows what ones are and what ones are not? No one really does unless your an expert on Tomato sizes. There are Tomatos out there with Genes from Flounder. How weird is that? The purpose is to increase shelf life. Some of these do not make any sense on why they are using this gene for this food.
I am still trying to figure out if i need to narrow this down anymore. If i need to someone give me a tip because im not sure how much more narrow I can get.

2006-06-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

I think that tomarrows trip is going to be very interesting and i think that it may also helpful with our topics. I started my power point today but it is slow going. I guess i will se you all tomarrow then.

2006-06-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

Good to see you begin in a topic area. . .things will move more smoothly. By the way, there are many, many power point templates. . . .if you decide you want something out of the ordinary. The material and how it is presented is most important. . .but the background can make a big difference.

2006-06-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

I started working on a powerpoint today and reliezed I didn't like any of the preset backgrounds so I made a few custom ones :) Haven't tryed them yet but we will see.

My topic is Genetically Engineered Bacteri aparently... :/

2006-06-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

I have been reading more on gene therapy and some of its downsides. I had come across a website that has some general info that explains gene therapy and such.
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml

2006-06-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

I think that we accomplished alot today. Now everybody has their topics and we can research and begin to explore those areas of biotechnology.

2006-06-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am basically just looking at pros and cons right now, still. Basically alot of articles are saying that GE foods are not beneficail to animals, humans or our health. They are saying that some of these foods will be spread uncontrolably to mix with plants that are not altered and then they will create poisons and higher levels of toxins fatal to animals and humans. Not all plants will do this but majority of them will. I haven't exactly found what plants specifically will do this yet, I am still looking for that.

2006-06-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Some of the research you speak of here, changing bacteria to produce other products, has been in the research literature over the past 30 years or so. Recently, the ability to manipulate DNA and other microtechnologies has really helped.

This has happended in nature. . .for example during the American Revolution, the colonists needed iron for musket balls and cannon balls, etc. There was a particular kind of bacteria found in the bogs of Southern New Jersey. . .I believe they are lithotropes (is this right Dave?). Anyway, the bacteria produced iron as a waste product. The iron waste product fell to the bottom of the bogs. Colonists collected this crude iron, dried it, and melted it down. Later in the war, a better refining process and the discovery of iron deposits (in South East Pennsylvania I think) allowed the colonists to have a higher grade and greater quantity of iron for the war effort.

In bacteria, there are two kinds of DNA. A large strand of DNA and several smaller "circles" of DNA called plasmids.
It is the directions on the DNA segments of the plasmid that can be manipulated. Check out this image of a plasmid map. I think it will help.

http://www.med.umich.edu/vcore/images/pUMVC3.gif

Thus, changing the segments changes what the bacterium will do. . .since the cell follows what is "written" on the DNA.

2006-06-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well I have been reading some things on genetic engineering towards human health and found some interesting ideas. With gene therapy, which involves inserting and modifing human genes, to replaced damaged genes thus getting rid of unwanted affects. One of the ideas that we can cure diabetes, which is thought to be caused by defective/damaged genes in the pancreas, we can correct these genes and ergo cure diabetes. There are also ideas that human obesity, mental disorders, and such. I also found a site with some info on agricuture uses for genetic engineering.
http://members.tripod.com/c_rader0/gemod.htm#intro
http://www.newstarget.com/007702.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/00774/en/txt/uses_medicine_stem-cells.html

2006-06-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

I think this looks like an interesting topic. Im glad were all on the same track now. Now we have to narrow it down even further.

2006-06-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

The next trip, as far as I know is Thursday June 29th to the Peoria Ag Lab.
Genetic Engineering/BioTech Topics:

Andy. . .Health Related
JT. . .Food Related
Clay. . .Agricultural Related

Tomorrow we need to finalize the topics for Martin and Justin. . .right?

Although I'm on call from 3am to 6pm. . .I expect to be here at home much of tomorrow.

A reminder to check your sources. . .who is the author of the article or website. Good researchers have reliable sources.

2006-06-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today we picked out topics, I am doing Foods. I have just been reading more about if these "altered" plants are more beneficial to humans or if they are more dangerous to us. Studies are showing that some plants may produce more toxins because of foreign genes in them. Some GE products even increase the risks of cancer. Injecting cows to make them produce more and better milk increaes the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer. These are not going to result in a good turnout for farmers. Something else I have been looking at is the labeling of these foods. Some people are allergic to certain products. If foreign genes from somethign they are allergic to is in these new products and they do not know, then that will result in an outcome no one wants. Bills are being put through to label these GE foods. I know this is all negative so far but I am trying to find the good points of it too.

2006-06-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

I guess that everybody wants to do a different topic and present it. I think that i have choosen genetically modified animals and their use to humans. And i am confuesed if their is a trip tomarrow or not some said yes and some said no, but any way i will talk to you all tomarrow. Also if no one has any objections i could be the leader or coordinator if no one else wants to.

2006-06-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well aparently we are all slecting different topics and incorporating them into one pressentationg. Since I'v been finding 3 or so websites full of information the past few days I'm going to start working on my powerpoint since that will be the easiest way for everyone to create a good looking pressentation.

2006-06-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

I wonder where everyone went? I would like to get the topic down and confirmed with everyone... I still would like to do something with biofuels or genetic engineering so I hope we can discuss this soon.

2006-06-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

The hard part is deciding the "topic". . . the presentation is relatively easy.

2006-06-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so our topic is in the area of genetic engineering and like I said earier, we could look at the pros and cons of engineering and we could look at in the medical, food, agiculture, waste management, and fuel areas. I might suggest that each of us take one of those areas and then compile what we find into a presentation (a powerpoint perhaps, I am not much of a public speaker)

2006-06-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry I was unable to be on this morning. I was out of town and did not want to travel with the laptop.

So just wondering when we are going to pick a topic so we can really focus on something. I read through most of the conversation from this morning and it appeared as we were going to pick a topic but didn't.

So instead I'l give my opinion on what we should do.

Ok, we started off with biofuels and I know that thats what Justin would like to do. So we should do this. But we should also do genetically engineered bacteria or something and how they can be used to modify ethanol yeilds. We could also go into the how they engineer the bacteria with special proteins and such. Anyone else agree? We can talk about it tomorrow morning.

2006-06-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.theemailactivist.org/Genetic.htm
This page is talkign about the new world of genetic engineering and what is going to happen with it all. I honestly think it is a good page read up on it and see what hits you on this topic.
http://www.i-biotechnology.co.uk/genetic-engineering.html
This is just a little page about Genetic engieering. Not very much on it but it gives some basics about it. Things i needed to find out.
http://online.sfsu.edu/%7Erone/GEessays/WhatisGE.html
This page is about the process of genetic engineering and what you need to know to know about genetic engineering. Talking abdo DNA, cells, and other thinks like that.
I am looking up the pros and cons of genetic engineering. seeing if it will end up overa being a good deal for the word. some say no saome say yes. i guess in 10 to 15 years we will find out.

2006-06-22T05:44:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. . .
Uexpectedly, I will not be here this morning. My Dad needs to go to Peoria. . . I am one of the sandwhich generation.
However, I have some ideas about the topic. . .see what you think.
I began by looking at some of the basic areas in biotech. . .my outline follows. Then I came across the link to the National Health Museum. I think by putting the two together you could have 5 topics that dovetail.

These are only ideas. . .so keep or discard. . . .

Agriculture which would included biofuels.
Health Care which would included the cancer and protein stuff.
Bioengineering. . .using bacteria to clean up stuff. . . and create new/altered food.
Forensics
Plus one of the others in the outline.

I will check in later today. I have confidence that this can be worked out.

Basic Areas of Biotechnology
Bioinformatics
o http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521600820&ss=exc
Essential Bioinformatics Jin Xiong Texas A & M University Paperback (ISBN-13: 9780521600828 | ISBN-10: 0521600820) Published March 2006 | 352 pages| eBook format
Proteomics
o Protein separation
o Protein identifications
o Protein quantification via gel electrophoresis
o Structural proteomics. . .crystallography and NMR spectroscopy
o Protein modification
o Cellular proteomics
Flow cytometry
o Measuring of physical/chemical characteristics of cells as they flow past a sensing point. Often done with a laser beam. . .as the parts go by the sensor, the light is scattered and “re” collected for measurement.
o Fluorescence microscopes.
Molecular Genetics
Environment
Health Care
Food Production

http://www.nationalhealthmuseum.org:8081/RC/AB/BA/#Anchor-35882

2006-06-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well I hope that we can get a topic selected soon, I would suggest that we look at the various pros and cons of using biofuels on a local, regional, national and global scale as well as the social, economic, environmental, and energy efficiency implicaitons

2006-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well after being stuck in that impossible to sleep in van for two hours I wasn't too happy to be bombarded with a hundred really big words that I didn't understand, not having any real basis in bio didn't help much either.

As we went through more of the labs I started to understand some of what he was talking about and found alot of it rather fasinating, such as the 2nd to last one in the Keck building were they printed the slides and examined the differences between the two types of DNA.

For some reason the whole time we were in the Keck labs I felt rather sick though and I have no idea why. My skin felt hot buy my body felt cold and it sent everything off the deepend.

I thought the Protein discussion was really interesting also how they could examin the proteins in the brain to find which ones were controlling a specific behavior. Theres just so many possibilities with that it is absolutly amazing. Though I felt kinda bad cause I wanted to sleep through the whole thing no matter how interesting it was :/

The mass spec machines were rather interesting also because I had heard of them and probably seen them used on tv but never really understood what they did so it was nice to finally know.

Anti-bodys was meh... its an interesting subject but I didn't really get to much of an implementation for it.

But overall it was a fun learning experiance and I'm always open to learn something new.

2006-06-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, narrowing a topic down is going to be the first priority right now. We need to decide what we are going to do. Here is a page abour protein sequencing and such. http://www.lerner.ccf.org/services/molecbiotech/protein.php
http://www.biotec.uiuc.edu/
Heres the site for the Biotech lab at U of I.
I like the idea of the Protein parts, but our problem is to narrow it down what are we going to do?

2006-06-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

I think that yesterdays trip to U of I was very interesting. I learned a lot but their were many confusing parts. We need to get a set topic soon also. I wonder if one of the fields of biotech that we saw yesterday could help us narrow down our topic.

2006-06-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

I learned alot yesterday. I think we're on the right track. DNA is amazing, but complicated at the same time.

2006-06-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Well Fellas,
I don't know what you gained from our visit to the UofI Biotechnology center yesterday, but my head is still spinning. I realize a few of you may have had a little trouble understanding everything we witnessed yesterday, but that's OK. This was some very advanced technology. Much of what we saw yesterday is not even in text books because the technology is so new. I will admit some of the things those Doctors were talking about was even over my head. To be fair to you guys, unless you have had a good background in cellular and molecular biology, most of what you saw yesterday was probably like listening to someone speaking a foreign language.

One of the coolest things I saw yesterday was the incorporation of computers and robotics into these fields. This technology is truly cutting edge.

If you have any questions over anything you saw and what to try and have an "easier" understanding of it and why it's important, just let me know, I'll try and help you out.

Dave

2006-06-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Looks like you have gained some valuable information. Bacteria a neat. . .because we can "program" the DNA by "cutting and pasting" segment of DNA into their plasmids. The bacteria then "think" they had those directions from the beginning.
You probably picked up alot more information from the U of I trip yesterday.

One thing, I believe you have picked up on, is the input/output factor. Producing ethanol or other products has a "cost." What you give for what you get must be considered.

2006-06-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

A study at Purdue is trying to make bacteria that can break down not just the starches in corn but the stalks and everything that is left after the picking.
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/020617.Ladisch.stover.html

I also found this wikipage on Cellulosic Ethanol which is ethanol just produced from alot more types of biomass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulosic_ethanol

2006-06-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, here is what I have been looking into for today,
(please excuse any incorrect spellings or grammar)

Lonnie O. Ingram, distinguished professor and science director for the Department of Microbiology and Cell at the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels (FCRC) had genetically engineered Escherichia coli, or E. Coli bacteria that is capable of producing ethanol from all the sugars in the plant cell wall, ergo we can utilise biomass from agiculture waste such as rice hulls and wood waste. This gives the possiblity that we could grow corn and soybeans and that we could use both as a source of food and fuel. We can help both hunger and the trouble of the depleting our natural resources. The bacteria can produce ethanol at a 90 to 95% effeciency

Also, many critics of biofuels state that it takes much more work to produce biofuels than it provides thus it is "unsubstanible, subsized food burning." Their claims state that if every car in the US alone ran of 100% ethanol that we would need to cover 97% of the US in farm land (if using corn).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808135444.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981020074004.htm
http://microcell.ufl.edu/ingram.html

2006-06-19T08:55:00.001-07:00

I came across some articles that show that enthanol is not worth the costs of producing and that it is a net energy loss. If any of you get the Wall Street Journal or are subcribed to their web site then their is a interesting article on it called "Can enthnol solve the nations energy problems" and their are many sites about it if you go to google and type in david pemental and tad patzek who did a study on this topic. One good site is www.news.cornell.edu/stories/ July05/ethanol.toocostly.ssl.html

2006-06-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.wilsons.ca/home_heat/biofuel.html
http://www.islandseeds.org/wiki/Biofuel
http://www.baysense.com/2005/11/do_biofuels_sub.html
These are just some links I have read on today. I am looking more into the part of BioFuel in the sort of which plants are better, and if it is beneficail to produce it. I have not really ventured into the genetic engineering part of all of this yet.

2006-06-19T08:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/33969/
This is talking about is it still "sensible" to produce biofuel by using coal. The use of caol doubles the emissions of natural gas. So is it still sensible??

2006-06-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

2006-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Bright Minds 2006
I think that we coud be on to something with the biofuels and the genetic engineering of them. This could make a good topic for our presentation.

2006-06-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

I think that we could be on to somehing with the biofuels and the genetic engineering of them. This could make a good topic for our presentation.

2006-06-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

This first one is about a bacteria that they are geneticaly engineering to turn corn directly into ethonal with an 86% yeild.

Link

This is a page about how the Iowa State University is trying to genetically engineer the starches in corn to produce cheaper ethanol and new starches for food and such.

Link

2006-06-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

I have been looking up more into genetic engineering and how it helps in the production of biofuels. The scientists who cracked the human genome now hope that they can exploit the properties of DNA to create "biofactories" to produce hydrogen and ethanol and help in the mass production of biofuels.
http://news.com.com/Worlds+next+fuel+source+could+be+designer+organisms/2100-11390_3-5933827.html

2006-06-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

After reading about different crops used to produce BioFuel I have noticed that there is no one crop that is "the best". The best depends on what factors are being considered.
http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/31180/
http://www.sorganol.com/
http://www.dowagro.com/ca/news/eastern/08-Jan-01.htm
http://pune.sancharnet.in/nariphaltan/seedworld.htm
These are some sites i have been reading that are talking about what plant/crop is most effective on the use of its sugars and other parts.

2006-06-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

I think we're getting closer to pinpointing our topic. Lets keep it up.

2006-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today I felt I would take a different approach than everyone else since we were sorta drifting over towards genetic engineering. I decided to look into the ethical objections and the mishaps of some of the genetic engineering.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

2006-06-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Exploration of new topics. I like it. Not that I didn't like biofuels, I do. It still may be a topic for us to explore further. That will be up to you guys.
For the next couple of day lets explore some of these other possibilities, just like you have been doing.
I understand that a couple of you are interested in genetics and genetic engineering. I also understand that we're not all on the same page when it comes to completely understanding all the ins and outs of the topic of genetics. That's OK too. We're all here to learn. Let me plant a couple of seeds for thought. First, keep in mind that all living things are connected by the fact that the molecule called DNA is what determines everything about us and what we are. Genes(DNA) are the heritable blueprints that explain the diversity of life that existed in earth's past, what exists today, and what life will be like in the future. Secondly, also keep in mind that science has made many major discoveries in just the last few years in this area and that new discoveries are happining daily. If really is a hard topic to keep up with.
For those of us who may have had much exposure in this topic yet, I found this website that has alot of info on DNA. It has some animations, some history, and alot of info about how this molecule works. Check it out if you get the chance, it really is pretty interesting, Dave

http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/

2006-06-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

I have been looking into Genetic Engineering mostly towards medicine and that sort. It seems interesting that vaccines can be made safer by adding just the gene from the pathogen that causes the body to produce antibodies into a harmless virus like viccinia which then reduces the risk of an inadverse infection when getting a vaccine due to the use of the actual virus itself. This opens the possibility for vaccines for viruses such as AIDS and malaria. Here is a website with some more info
http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/00774/en/txt/uses_medicine_vaccines.html

2006-06-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

I think doing genetically altered foods would be good to go into. Then add in some of justins works of making his own alcohol. thats would go great in all of this. i have been looking into BioRobitics and Genetically engineering althougth i dont know much of the topic. Justins idea of seeing which plant or substance would give us more out of it then corn would go with that too. So i think that going with the genetically altered foods is a good idea.

2006-06-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

I think that a topic in the Genetic Engineering group would be interesting. Something like stem cell research, or cloning, or even genetically modified foods would be a good idea. Here are some sites I found today http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering
http://www.genengnews.com/

2006-06-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

I found the delete button.

2006-06-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put a small picture with the post. . .where is the undo button??

2006-06-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Bright Minds 2006
http://www.biotechinstitute.org/what_is/ ,
http://medcenter.uc.edu/biotechnology.cfm ,
http://www.biocrawler.com/encyclopedia/Biotechnology#Sub-fields_of_biotechnology,
these are just some sites i was looking at yesterday and some today. Al of the BioFuel sites i have are just the ones thet have linked on here. Justin, we are focusing on BioFuel and that area of BioTech. I am more interested in the arguements of how BioFuel is not as energy effective as everyone thinks it is. I am finding more websites about this arguement and i will post more tomorrow.

2006-06-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

Good discussion to day. . .keep the conversation going. Good ideas arise from discussions. Have a good day.
Ken

2006-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

I found this massive article on wiki about E85 which has a couple pages worth of stuff on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85

I'l edit this post later.

2006-06-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

These sites look like it has alot of information in them http://whybiotech.com/index.asp?id=1645 www.biodiesel.co.uk/ I think that they nare pretty good to help us start out

2006-06-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

I had come across this site that info on Cellulosic Ethonal and various topics on the subject
http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/enews/enews_0505/enews_0505_Cellulosic_Ethanol.htm

Also here is the link to the wikipedia biotech portal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biotechnology

2006-06-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I'm having problems with my connection in east galesburg. Im going to keep tring to get on Skype. Anyway I think you should all take a look at this site, http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol.html#ethwhatis

2006-06-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Fellas,
It was really nice meeting with you all yesterday. I look foward to working with you for the next few weeks, Dave

2006-06-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

hey everybody i got it working and a new e-mail account it is claylarson08@hotmail.com

2006-06-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is my post... Hello everyone hope this goes well.

2006-06-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

It was nice to meet you guys and I hope that this is a pleasant experience for me

2006-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

It has been nice meeting you. . .

2006-06-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

This should be a fun program. Im glad to be here. Thanks.

2006-06-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Bright Minds 2006
I'm looking forward to working with this program and trying to discover new facts about biotech.

2006-06-13T08:02:00.002-07:00

Bright Minds 2006 Internship Program

The "Bright Minds" Internship program at Carl Sandburg College is targeted towards academically brilliant juniors and seniors of the twenty K-12 School districts within Carl Sandburg Community College District 518.

The program has been offered to the top five of the winners of the Academic Challenge competition offered at the Galesburg and Carthage Campuses in March, 2006. The Academic Challenge is sponsored by Carl Sandburg College and the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Organization and covers seven academic categories namely, Mathematics, Chemistry, English, Physics, Biology, Engineering Graphics and Computer Science.

This year the students will be involved in an "Information Research" project on the topic of Biotechnology. The project will culminate in a fifteen-minute presentation to the Carl Sandburg College Board of Trustees at their regular Board Meeting in Carthage, IL on July 27, 2006.

The project will span over a month starting June 13th and ending on July 18th and will involve the students spending one day a week at Carl Sandburg College campus in Galesburg and the rest of the days working at home or at a nearby CSC campus. During this time, they will go on field visits, conduct interviews, and do research on Biotechnology.

The program is hosted by Samuel Sudhakar, vice president of technology services and Mr. David Burns, biology instructor at Carl Sandburg College.

Students will also maintain a daily journal and communicate with group members via a Blog.
Following are some of the benefits for the students:
1. Gaining knowledge in a cutting edge field and an excellent experience.
2. Field visits and opportunity to meet pioneers in the field
3. A certificate of merit and a letter of recommendation from the President of Carl Sandburg College.
4. Temporary use of a laptop and broadband Internet access
5. Stipend

The College hopes to benefit from:
1.Hosting bright minds on Campus
2.Getting an inner view into the field of Biotechnology
3.Formulating recommendations for related curriculum
Students will be spending every Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. until Noon at the College for the five weeks.

Schedule at a glance
Start Date: Tuesday, June 13th, 2005, 9:00 a.m. E200 Board Room, Main Campus- Introductions, Informal Discussions, Campus Tour, BLOG, and Rules of Internship
Tuesday, June 20th - 7:00 a.m. All day field visit -- Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center - University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Thursday, June 29th - 8:00 a.m. Full day field visit -- AG Lab Peoria/Bradley University and Morton Crime Lab
Thursday, July 6th - 8:00 a.m. -All day field visit -- location to be announced
Tuesday, July 11th - 9:00 a.m. - Noon -- CSC Board Presentation Rehearsal
Thursday, July 27th - CSC Board of Trustees Meeting in Carthage, Illinois - 15 minute presentation. 7:00 PM

For more information on this program contact:
Mr. David Burns
Biology Faculty
Carl Sandburg College
2400 Tom L. Wilson Blvd.
Galesburg, IL 61401.
(309) 341-5463
dburns@sandburg.edu

Mr. Samuel Sudhakar
Vice President of Technology Services
Carl Sandburg College
Galesburg, IL 61401.
(309) 341-5297
ssudhakar@sandburg.edu

Dr. Ken Grodjesk
Education Instructor
Carl Sandburg College
(309) 341-5464
kgrodjesk@sandburg.edu

2006-01-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Well, seems that all of us have been working diligently on our power points and theres not much else to post on except that. I'v got about half of mine done. I have made all the slides I plan on using but have nothing in some of them.