Climate change could alter the world we live in but it is still not universally understood.

Check out this link from the Guardian which is "everything you need to know about climate change"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/aug/15/everything-know-climate-change

Cystic fibrosis is a terminal genetic condition that affects the respiratory, gastric intestinal and resproductive systems. People with the condition often have chest infections that can lead to lung scarring as they produce musus that is too sticky and so traps bacteria in the lungs. Recent work has suggested garlic extract may help reduce the number of infections.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120527115543.htm

There is an increasing problem of antibacterial resitance in many disease causing bacteria (eg MRSA) which you cover in topics 4 and 6. Could humans have actually caused the evolution of bacteria to speed up?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/bacteria-evolving-faster/

Stem cells are a hot topic in Biology. The ethics of using stem cells aside - how can we replicate the differentiation process outside the body? Maybe nanotechnology has the answer...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nanotechnology-world/nanotechnology-shaping-stem-cell-research

CREST AWARD

Some AS students have stayed after their exams to work towards a Silver CREST award and start to collect data for their A2 coursework. Here is some evidence of them hard at work!

Humans are very bad at estimating risk. What is the risk of a train crash? or a plane crash? or a car crash? or dying from lung cancer after smoking? Here is an article about human risk intelligence.


 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428655.900-the-man-who-gave-us-risk-intelligence.html

In Topic 6 you learn about the immune system but the immune system of newborn babies can react differently to adults or older children. Scientists have developed an artifical newborn immune system that they can test vaccines on before giving them to real babies.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428664.500-artificial-immune-system-gives-baby-vaccines-a-booster.html

Michael J Fox (Back to the Future movie star) has Parkinson's disease which is you study in Topic 8. He has a Foundation which researches cures and treatments into the disease. One option for treatments is stem cell therapy. There are some problems with this and many ethical issues as you will discover in Topic 3.

Michael J Fox video

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21838-michael-j-fox-sidelines-stem-cells-for-parkinsons.html

Meerkats are threatened by inbreeding! A good example of how biologists are using biology to address an issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18119177

Part of Topic 7 "Run for your life" is about the effect of too little or too much exercise. Here is an article about the risk of arthritis in young sports players.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18119177

Aspirin may also prevent skin cancer - you learn about this drug as a treatment for CVD but a recent study suugests taking aspirin may reduce the risk of developing skin cancer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18233717

Biology AS trip to London Zoo 2012